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Steven Gerrard has been linked with a return to management.
The Liverpool legend is a free agent having left his role at El-Ettifaq at the beginning of the year.
Both sides agreed a mutual separation. The team was struggling in 12th place in the Saudi Pro League, just five points clear of the relegation zone.
Although Gerrard had extended his contract by two years in January 2024, his second season saw a sharp decline, with only five wins in 17 league matches.
His exit concluded a difficult period that included a surprising King’s Cup loss to second-division side Al Jabalain.
Since then, the 45-year-old has been linked to a plethora of roles, from league 2 to a shock return to Rangers – where he won the 55th Scottish Premiership title in 2021
And now, Gerrard has emerged as the has emerged as a potential candidate for the Middlesbrough job.
Bookmakers have now installed Steven Gerrard as the frontrunner for the Middlesbrough job, with odds as short as 6/4.
The former Liverpool skipper has leapfrogged other contenders, including Rob Edwards and Steve Cooper, in the latest betting markets.
Middlesbrough are currently without a permanent manager after Michael Carrick’s exit, and Gerrard’s name has been floated as a possible replacement.
While no formal talks have taken place, the Teesside club are believed to be conducting interviews for the role this week.
However, while the bookmakers may think that Gerrard could be tempted to a return to management – the man himself is not in a hurry.
Speaking on the Peter Crouch podcast in April, the Liverpool icon revealed he was not going to go back into the cauldron any time soon:
“I don’t want to be back in work mate, no. I’m happy with waking up and being free, doing the family stuff, just being free away from stress,” when asked about his next move with regards management.
“I will go in at some point but when it’s round the clocks, I’ve doing it 18, 19 months, I want to be free, I want to play a round of golf, go down the boozer and have a couple of beers, do normal things that you can’t do when you’re coaching.”