Celtic and Liverpool hero John Barnes says the time is now for Steven Gerrard to test himself in England's Premier League.
The Rangers boss has been linked with a spate of jobs down south in recent weeks and he's held in high regard after guiding the Ibrox side to an unbeaten Premiership title.
Most recently his name was astonishingly mentioned in relation to the new vacancy in the blue half of Merseyside, after Carlo Ancelotti left Everton to seal a return to Real Madrid.
Barnes is unsure if that's realistic but reckons Gerrard should make a move this summer rather than risk his stock falling in coming seasons.
Asked by BettingOdds.com if he could see Gerrard joining an English club that isn't Liverpool, Barnes said: “I can yes because we all know that the Premier League is the place to manage.
"Steven is ambitious and he may be able to win the league or finish second in Scotland every year, but to test yourself you have to come back down south. That’s obvious.
"Regarding which Premier League side he could manage, that all depends when an opportunity presents itself and how well he’s doing at that point in time, but of course if he wanted to come to the Premier League right now then his stock is very high.
"If he waits another year and Rangers finish second in the league and they’re 20 points behind Celtic then maybe his stock won’t be so high. So it’s difficult to say whether I can see Stevie managing Liverpool or any other Premier League club, but the time for it to happen would be now.
"Rangers were of course unbeaten, they won the SPL and they did really well. Timing is really important when it comes to management, so it may be the best time for Steven to come to the Premier League, but is there a club available for him now? There probably isn’t."
