Former England and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard admitted that he was “surprised and flattered” to be recommended by Jurgen Klopp as a future Liverpool manager as the Germans successor.
Earlier this week, Klopp reporters that if he was to be sacked by the Liverpool board, he would prefer if Rangers manager Steven Gerrard would replace him at the Merseyside club. Although Klopp’s position is exceptionally secure at Anfield, after he guided Liverpool to Champions League glory in the summer and subsequently collected The Best FIFA Men’s Coach Award this week there have been rumors circling the 52-year-old’s future at Liverpool as he has hinted that he might consider retiring.
Klopp’s current contract expires in the summer of 2022 and, although Rangers boss Gerrard has long been tipped to take over at the Kop helm one day, the ex-England midfielder hopes no vacancy at Liverpool arises for in the near future for some time at least.
The 39-year-old Gerrard has replied to Klopp’s comments by saying that he wants Klopp to keep doing the fantastic job that he is doing at Liverpool, “I was surprised and flattered at the same time. But when you read the quote really carefully, as I have, it said, ‘if I get sacked tomorrow’ he thinks Steven Gerrard should be the next Liverpool manager. Jurgen Klopp is not getting sacked tomorrow. I don’t want him to get sacked tomorrow. He’s doing a fantastic job.”
Gerrard also went on to explain that he was flattered by the offer because he holds Klopp in high regard, “I’m a Liverpool fan, and I’m sure every Liverpool fan on the planet endorses what I’m saying here, we want him to stay for many many years and bring as much success to our club as possible, but it was very flattering at the same time.”
