Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp: I will help Steven Gerrard become a manager

LIVERPOOL -- Jurgen Klopp has welcomed the decision to bring Steven Gerrard back to Liverpool as an academy coach and says he will do everything he can to ensure the former Reds captain is a success in his managerial career.

It was announced on Friday that Gerrard, who retired from football in November, will be taking up a full-time position at Liverpool's Kirkby academy at the start of February.

Klopp believes the role is the "perfect" opportunity for Gerrard, who made 710 appearances for Liverpool before leaving for LA Galaxy, to learn his craft in management.

"We had a very, very good, very long talk together," Klopp told a news conference on Monday afternoon. "Probably everybody in this room knows better than I do that he's a wonderful guy.

"For me, it was only important to know what Steven wants, actually, and he said he wants to be a manager in the future. So, that's cool.

"I said from my side, everything I can do to help him on this way, to make him the best manager he can be, I'm ready for this and I would like to do it.

"We spoke about different things, different options and now he's at the academy. That's great for us as a club and I think for him it's perfect because being a manager is a job you have to learn.

"When a person like Steven Gerrard -- the player he was, but more the person he is -- is ready to make the steps, that's wonderful news for football.

"Combining the playing experience with all the things he'll learn from now on, that's a bright future and it is brilliant."