Steven Gerrard keen to return

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Image Credits: Imago ImagesSteven Gerrard wants back in.After more than a year on the sidelines following his departure from Saudi Arabia, the Liverpool legend is ready to return to management, and the timing could not be more relevant given what is happening in English football right now.The key detail that has been largely overlooked in discussions about Gerrard’s future is a financial one.Having spent time managing in Saudi Arabia with Al Ettifaq, Gerrard was required to remain outside the United Kingdom for a full tax year following his departure from the club in January 2025.That period has now elapsed.As per TalkSPORT, he is tax exempt, he is no longer contracted to Al Ettifaq in any capacity, having stayed on briefly in a consultancy role after leaving, and he is understood to be actively open to taking on a Championship job at Burnley. The obstacle that quietly kept him away from English football is gone, and those close to the situation are making clear that he is ready to go.To understand why his return matters, it helps to remember what Gerrard actually represents in football terms.As a player, he spent 17 years at Liverpool, making 710 appearances and scoring 186 goals — numbers that place him among the greatest midfielders the Premier League has ever produced.He won the Champions League in 2005 in Istanbul, the FA Cup twice, the League Cup three times, and the UEFA Cup, and was named PFA Players’ Player of the Year in 2006.He captained Liverpool for over a decade and represented England 114 times.There is no debate about his standing in the game.As a manager, the picture is more complicated but not without genuine highlights.He began at Rangers in 2018 and delivered something historic in the 2020/21 season, an unbeaten league campaign in which the club accumulated 102 points, conceded just 13 goals across 38 matches, and ended Celtic’s run of nine consecutive Scottish Premiership titles.It was one of the most dominant title-winning performances Scottish football had seen in years and earned him the move to the Premier League with Aston Villa in November 2021.Villa proved more difficult.The club finished 14th in his first full season, and a poor start to the following campaign, just two wins from the opening 12 league games, saw him sacked in October 2022.The move to Al Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia followed in July 2023, where he reunited with former teammates Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum, but results again fell short of expectations and he left by mutual consent in January 2025.Now there is a vacancy opening up in the Championship, and Gerrard’s name has emerged as a genuine candidate.No final decision has been made yet on the current manager’s future at the club in question, with talks between the two parties described as ongoing, but the possibility of a departure at the end of the season is real and Gerrard is among the names being seriously considered.Alan Pardew, speaking on talkSPORT, gave his backing to the idea of Gerrard getting another crack at management in England.“I think Stevie Gerrard’s a good take for the Premier League,” Pardew said, suggesting the long-term trajectory remains a return to the top flight rather than a permanent stay in the second tier.The question is no longer whether Gerrard can get back into management.The tax situation is resolved, the desire is there, and the opportunity is forming.The question now is whether he picks the right job, because at 45, with his reputation still carrying enormous weight, the next appointment matters more than any that came before it.