Sir Kenny Dalglish stole headline after headline during his playing days, so it is no surprise his managerial career featured several world-class stars who did the exact same. As a legendary goalscorer himself, it only seemed right that he worked with the likes of Luis Suarez and Alan Shearer from the technical area - even winning the Premier League title with the latter at Blackburn.
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The same can be said for Steven Gerrard. The former Liverpool midfielder would have caught a glimpse of Dalglish's incredible Anfield legacy as a young boy and if you told that same young boy that he'd one day captain the Scot's Reds, then it would have sounded more like a fantasy world. In reality, however, the Gerrard and Dalglish link-up did happen and even featured a trophy.
Gerrard's not the only Liverpool icon that featured during Dalglish's second reign, however. In fact, King Kenny was partly responsible for welcoming Suarez to Anfield in 2011.
After losing Fernando Torres, the Reds swiftly reacted by splashing out £22m to welcome Suarez on deadline day. And soon enough, Dalglish was pictured standing next to both the South American and fellow new arrival Andy Carroll. Of course, what makes that picture all the more iconic is the fact that Carroll cost Liverpool £15m more than Suarez.
Suarez under Dalglish Stats
Appearances 52
Goals 21
Assists 9
The 30-goal involvements in 52 games was just a preview of what was to come from Suarez at Liverpool. The former Ajax man soon reached a new level entirely under Brendan Rodgers, but not many will forget that it was Dalglish who introduced him to the Premier League for the first time.
As good as Suarez and Gerrard were, however, Dalglish snubbed both of them when asked to name the best player that he managed.
Dalglish names "brilliant" Lucas Leiva as best player he coached
Not Suarez, not Gerrard, not Shearer, but Lucas Leiva was the name mentioned by Dalglish when asked to name the best player that he worked with. The Brazilian midfielder clearly had a fan in the Liverpool legend and the Scot made sure to hand him the highest possible praise when speaking to reporters.
“You see what they can do on the pitch, Steven [Gerrard], Luis [Suarez], Alan Shearer. You mention the names and that’s the names that come to your mind, because they were brilliant and their ability to play football was fantastic and their honesty and integrity in the games they played in were great as well and the contribution they gave to the team, but you look at Lucas Leiva."
"By the way, Lucas was brilliant, and you look what goes on in the dressing room, and you need a really good dressing room to be led by really strong people in there, and they’re not always the best players."
Leiva, to his credit, is still a cult hero at Anfield for the many years of service he gave to Liverpool during some of their most frustrating times in the Premier League.
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Lucas Leiva is presented with an award at Liverpool by Sir Kenny Dalglish.
Ultimately, injuries prevented him from truly realising his potential at the club, but there's a very good reason why the midfielder kept his place for 10 years on Merseyside and remains a popular figure to this day.