Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard is set to manage the club’s Under-18s in their 2017/18 UEFA Youth League campaign.
The Reds’ senior side earned themselves a spot in next season’s Champions League after securing a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, and as a result the youth team have been awarded a place in the UEFA Youth League.
The Liverpool Echo reports Gerrard will take over as Liverpool Under-18s boss “shortly”, and the competition will provide the youngsters the chance to compete against the best Under-19 talents across Europe.
The UEFA Youth League operates in the same fashion as the Champions League, with the 32 side’s placed into eight four-team groups who each play each other twice, home and away.
However, one difference is that group winners advance directly into the last 16, while the group’s second-place teams face play-offs against the youth champions of the top-32 ranked UEFA associations, who did not reach the Champions League.
The competition then goes into a single-round knockout until the final, where the two top team will play for the Lennart Johansson trophy.
Gerrard wrote himself into European folklore when he captained Liverpool to Champions League glory in 2005, as his side fought back from a three-goal deficit to draw level with AC Milan, before beating the Italian giants on penalties.
The 36-year-old played 88 Champions League matches for the Reds, scoring 30 goals and supplying 12 assists, and he will hope he can inspire the club’s next generation to European success.
He made more than 700 appearances in all competitions for his boyhood club overall, scoring 184 goals and providing 105 assists from midfield.