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Gerrard will be Liverpool manager one day, says former teammate Enrique

Dubai - The Spaniard, nicknamed El Toro, says current manager Jurgen Klopp is on a different level and can fight for more silverware

As Liverpool legend Steve Gerrard dips his feet into English Premier League management on Saturday, following a successful foray with Scottish club Rangers, his former teammate Jose Enrique believes that “Stevie” will one day be at the helm at Anfield. But Enrique, who made 99 appearances for The Reds across all competitions in five seasons, did add that Gerrard’s homecoming will have to wait a tad longer, especially with distinguished manager Jurgen Klopp at the wheel.

“I think he will be hopefully in a very long time,” Enrique said on Wednesday.

Enrique, the former left-back, was on a visit to Dubai regarding Liverpool’s brand expansion in the region.

“That means (Jurgen) Klopp is going to stay for a very long time. I know that the fans want to see Stevie as the coach of Liverpool, I want to see him as well. But listen, Klopp is on a different level at the moment to anyone else and I believe Klopp will stay for a long time, but definitely he (Gerrard) will be a manager in the future, definitely. And obviously, it depends on how good he does for Aston Villa, maybe he might go to another club after that, Obviously, the future nobody holds but I believe one day, he will definitely be the manager of Liverpool,” added the 35-year-old.

Gerrard, who made an astonishing 710 appearances for his boyhood club Liverpool, was installed as the manager at Aston Villa, following the axing of Dean Smith. Gerrard’s first match in charge will be at home at Villa Park against Brighton on Saturday.

And while many players are turning into management, with FC Barcelona legend Xavi returning to his boyhood club as coach, Enrique, nicknamed ‘El Toro’ (The Bull), said management isn’t his cup of tea.

“100 percent no,” he said.

“Well, can never say 100 percent in life; I would say 99 percent. Now, everything is going quite well and I cannot complain and I like it because I’ve been away from home many, many years and now it feels like home; actually my partner is close to Liverpool, she’s from Bolton, and we are looking to buy a house there as well to be like a second home. I just want to actually...more after what I’ve been through, you know, with obviously when I had my brain tumour, my retirement, everything, I want to have a base where we can have a family, have kids. Obviously, because of my work, if I need to travel, maybe travel here or there but then, you always come back to the same place. As a manager, one day you are here, three months later, you are somewhere else. It is very difficult to be settled in one place. And I completely respect that, that some people want that for their lives, but not for me, 100 percent it is not for me,” said Enrique, who recovered from chordoma, a rare brain tumour, in April 2019.

Enrique also felt that Klopp can do more wonders with Liverpool if the owners loosened their purse strings.

“Under Klopp, Liverpool are coming back to the way they were, winning trophies. I think to be honest, they should maybe give him a little more money in my opinion from the ownership, to spend a little more in players because I believe if you give him the right amount of money in the period that he wants, I really believe we can fight for every single thing, every single year,” he felt.

james@khaleejtimes.com