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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said he is "not worried" if Steven Gerrard becomes manager of Rangers, saying the club will "support him whatever he wants to do." Gerrard, who has coached Liverpool's under-18 since retiring in 2016, has emerged as the front-runner to become the next boss of the Scottish giants, according to multiple reports from Scotland, some of which said the job is Gerrard's if the 37-year-old wants it. A source close to Liverpool confirmed later on Friday that the Merseyside club would not stand in Gerrard's way if he wanted to leave his current role, echoing Klopp's words from his news conference. "I'm not worried. If, a big if, something happens, it was always clear," Klopp said ahead of Liverpool's game home game against Stoke. "Steven is, was and always will be a Liverpool legend. We will support him whatever he wants to do. Simple as that. It's no decision. I don't know the situation at the moment. I can imagine that clubs are interested in signing Stevie. "He has massive experience as a player, and now as a manager. I would think about him as well if I owned a club. One day it will happen, either here or somewhere else, but it's his decision and he's old enough to make it himself." Rangers have made it clear they are interested in appointing Gerrard to what would be his first senior managerial role. Chairman Dave King was at Anfield on Tuesday as Liverpool took on Roma in the Champions League semifinals -- a match at which Gerrard worked as a television pundit. Graeme Murty remains in interim charge of Rangers until the end of the season, having been asked to step into the breach following Pedro Caixinha's sacking in October. The bookmakers have installed Gerrard as the odds-on favourite but the appointment of a rookie boss would be a major gamble for Rangers as they look to arrest Celtic's domestic dominance. However, Klopp said Gerrard's work with the U18s had shown that he could do the job. "We had a good first chat and from then on it developed really brilliantly," he said. "He wanted to learn and he learned, he wanted to do the job and he did the job. As a Liverpool coach in the youth, you have quite a good bunch of players around. It's not that you have to tell them everything about football. He used the time. "If he thinks he is ready then he's ready. It was quite quick learning, and he did. If he thinks he wants to do something different -- a really big if -- then we would be completely happy for him and we would support him." Klopp joked: "As long as he is not the Everton manager, or Man United, then we would still help him if he has questions." Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers said he was "a little bit surprised" to see Gerrard linked to the Rangers job, but encouraged him to take it if he feels it's the right fit. "The most important thing when you are starting out is when you feel the time is right and when you feel ready, especially when it is about your first job," Rodgers said. "It is not necessarily about a club, it is about the right club. "And if the speculation is right and Stevie has spoken to them then maybe there is something in that, that he feels that it is the right club." However, former Rangers manager and current Scotland coach Alex McLeish said Gerrard would have to learn on the job if he made the move to Ibrox. "It depends on what Steven has been doing, how much coaching he has actually been involved in," McLeish said. "He knows the game inside out but as regards coaching, then I'm sure he has got some things to learn. He won't have all the answers for that, but I'm certain that some day he could be a great man-manager. "I hear the way he is coaching the kids and giving them the Liverpool values and what it takes, and sometimes I think that gets missed out in the process of kids when they are growing up, and keeping the passion and enthusiasm for every game. The kids at Liverpool have a good leader in there." Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon also warned Gerrard could find success in management harder to come by than he did as a player. "Knowing Steve as I do, he's a brilliant guy," the Hibernian head coach said. "He's one of my heroes actually over the past 20 years, a great role model and inspirational figure. But playing football is totally different from coaching and managing. "I'm sure he will do a bit of due diligence on it and he has plenty of people he can turn to for advice. John Barnes would be a good example. He went in cold and found it very difficult. "It can be a harsh environment. It's not as easy as people think it is. That's the perception coming from down south." Information from ESPN FC's Liverpool correspondent Glenn Price was used in this report.
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