The Reds captain admits he has thought about pursuing a managerial career when he hangs up his boots, and would seriously consider the chance to take the reins at Anfield

Steven Gerrard admits he would consider managing Liverpool in the future if he felt he was up to the task.

The inspirational midfielder holds legendary status at Anfield, having spent his entire career with his boyhood club.

Gerrard is open to the possibility of moving into management when he calls time on his career and said he would welcome the chance to take charge at Anfield if he believed he could do the job justice.

He told the club’s official website: “I’d consider management maybe if I was good enough.

“But just because you’ve been a decent player and had a successful career at Liverpool, it doesn’t mean you’re going to turn out to be a top manager.

“But if I was good enough and I ever got the shout to be the Liverpool manager in 10 or 20 years, of course I’d consider it very seriously.”

The England captain has no intention of hanging his boots up just yet as he attempts to get his hands on the Premier League trophy for the first time this season.

The 33-year-old is also set to skipper his country in what will almost certainly be his last World Cup in Brazil next year.

The Gunners face a crucial week with games against Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United, and Wilshere will miss at least the first stern test of their credentials

EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey

Jack Wilshere is expected to miss Arsenal’s top-of-the-table Premier League clash against Liverpool on Saturday evening.

The midfielder has suffered a recurrence of his long-running ankle problems and is considered unlikely to even make the substitute’s bench for the Emirates Stadium showdown.

Goal understands that the latest damage is to Wilshere’s right ankle, which he had surgery on during the summer, and Arsenal are ready to give him a breather in order not to aggravate the joint.

The England star’s likely absence is a major blow to the Premier League leaders ahead of a match that is regarded as a litmus test of their title credentials.

With Mathieu Flamini (groin) and Serge Gnabry (ankle) already ruled out and Theo Walcott, Lukas Podolski, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Abou Diaby still unavailable, manager Arsene Wenger is left with few selection dilemmas.

Wenger will make seven changes to the Arsenal team that were beaten 2-0 by Chelsea in the Capital One Cup in midweek, although this amounts to only one change to the starting X1 against Crystal Palace seven days ago, a game the Gunners won 2-0.

Wojciech Szczesny, Bacary Sagna, Per Mertesacker, Kieran Gibbs, Mikel Arteta, Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud, who were all rested on Tuesday, are expected to re-join Laurent Koscielny, Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky in the team.

Wilshere’s short career has been blighted by ankle problems and the latest setback will be alarming to Arsenal and England supporters.

The 21-year-old has made 20 appearances for club and country this season but his form has been fitful, despite him scoring what Wenger described as one of the outstanding goals of his Arsenal reign against Norwich City last month.

Wenger admitted eight days ago that he is trying “to be a bit more cautious” with Wilshere, whose short career has been blighted by problems to his right ankle.

The midfielder was a second-half sub against Palace last weekend after limping off against Borussia Dortmund three days earlier with ankle pain. However, he played the full 90 minutes against Chelsea in midweek.

Arsene Wenger has turned his attention to other striker targets after admitting last summer’s move for the Uruguayan was ill-judged

EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey

Arsenal have dropped their interest in Luis Suarez after being told that Liverpool will not yield in their unwillingness to sell the striker to the Londoners, Goal understands.

The Gunners are still in the market for a marquee centre-forward and have drawn up a shortlist of targets for both January and next summer.

But sources have said that Arsenal’s pursuit of Suarez is “dead in the water” because of Liverpool’s refusal to do business with their rivals.

Relations between the two clubs soured in the summer after Arsenal bid £40 million plus £1 for the Uruguayan. The Gunners had been led to believe that an offer of a penny over £40m would be enough to trigger a release clause in his contract.

It was the second of Arsenal’s bids for Suarez in July and so infuriated the Merseysiders that they refused to do business with the London club despite the player making it clear he was keen on a move to the Emirates Stadium and subsequent indications that the Gunners would table an improved offer.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has now admitted that although their now infamous bid was not intended to provoke Liverpool – owner John W Henry tweeted “what are they smoking over there” after receiving it – it may not have been their smartest move.

“It was not the most subtle thing we have done but it was not meant to be provocative at all. It could be interpreted like that but it was not our purpose,” he told the press on Friday.

“Relations are good — we kept in touch over that period. I don’t want to dwell on that situation. It was one of the transfers that didn’t work and in every club you have two or three like that. Life is about opportunities that you miss, some that you take.”

Arsenal had turned their attention to Suarez after closely pursuing Gonzalo Higuain, Wayne Rooney and Stevan Jovetic during the summer. They also failed in a last-ditch bid to sign Demba Ba on loan from Chelsea.

Since the summer window closed, Arsenal have learned that Liverpool’s stance has not changed and any approach for Suarez would be instantly dismissed.

The Merseysiders are privately, as well as publicly, confident of staving off interest in their prize asset in January but accept that they face another fight to hold on to the player next summer.

Real Madrid are widely considered to be be the favourites to capture Suarez, who has been in sensational form since returning to the Liverpool side following a 10-match domestic ban.

The 26-year-old has scored six goals in five matches since his ban, including a magnificent hat-trick in Liverpool’s 4-1 win over West Brom last weekend.