Gerrard set for Anfield return to launch coaching career

already turned down an offer from MK Dons.

“I have a dream and aspirations to go into management,” Gerrard said in an interview with BT Sport.

But Liverpool have made no secret there is ‘an open door’ for Gerrard at Anfield and a return to his boyhood club is set to be his next step, with a defined role at the club’s academy. He has held talks with academy director Alex Inglethorpe.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has promised to provide every assistance but has also urged for perspective and patience to be applied to maximise Gerrard’s ambitions. “Being a good footballer is not the only thing you need to be a good manager,” said Klopp.

“It helps. It is something I lacked because I wasn’t a good player. But that doesn’t mean I don’t understand the game. I can imagine how it should be on the pitch.

“You are not the only country with this problem. In Germany, the team that won the 1990 World Cup, not a lot of them are managers.

“A few have tried it, not all of them have tried it. We can’t change the situation for these unbelievably good football players.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool, who ceded top spot after drawing 0-0 at Southampton last weekend, host a Sunderland team buoyed by backto-back wins that have lifted them off the foot of the table.

“It’s our job to show from the first second as a big group, crowd involved, that we are different — here it’s different,” said Klopp.

“Sunderland, if they win football games in the Premier League: well done, deserved, whatever. But not here.” Agencies