Steven Gerrard Reportedly Targeting Liverpool Role at End of 2016 MLS Season

Liverpool’s legendary former captain Steven Gerrard is reportedly poised to take on a coaching role with the Reds at the end of the Major League Soccer season.

According to Mike McGrath of the Sun, the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder will head back to England later this year and will have a lot of opportunities for work, including a punditry gig. But it’s suggested the 35-year-old is taking qualifications that could see him return to Anfield as part of Jurgen Klopp’s coaching set-up.

“It’s 100 per cent he’ll be back at the end of his contract,” says a source quoted in the piece. “And he’d love a coaching role at Liverpool.”

As we can see courtesy of the club's Twitter feed, the midfielder and the Liverpool manager linked up earlier in the season:

McGrath notes that Gerrard impressed Klopp when he returned to the club in the winter to keep his fitness up during the MLS offseason. “The Kop chief says Gerrard helped him learn more about the club,” continues the piece. “And his presence could be a positive influence on the squad if Gerrard returns as a coach.”

Since leaving Anfield at the end of the 2014-15 season, the midfielder has found things a little testing in the United States' top flight.

Victor Decolongon/Getty Images

Although he still has the passing precision, in-game intelligence and will to win that was so prevalent during his time on Merseyside, often the high-intensity nature of MLS matches can see the game pass him by. After all, Gerrard is now in the twilight of his distinguished playing career.

As noted by World Soccer Talk’s Amadi Tidiane Thiam, a recent poll of players from the division conducted by ESPN FC didn’t paint Gerrard in a particularly positive light:

"

MLS Player Poll's Most Overrated Players:
1). Mix Diskerud
2). Jozy Altidore
3). Frank Lampard
4). Andrea Pirlo
5). Steven Gerrard#MLS

— amadí tídíane thiam (@amadoit2) March 22, 2016"

A report from the Independent’s Simon Hughes last year revealed that the former Kop skipper has found adjusting to life in the States difficult, particularly the travelling. “Each time he produced a boarding card at the gate, in more ways than just one, it must have felt like a tap on the shoulder, telling him again that he was very far from Anfield,” Hughes wrote.

It seems inevitable Gerrard will return to Anfield in some capacity later on in his career. A figure so immersed in the club’s traditions can only be an asset to Klopp as he continues to get acquainted with Liverpool.