Steven Gerrard retires: What next for the Liverpool legend? Coaching, an MLS franchise or maybe a spot of fishing
STEVEN GERRARD has hung up his boots following an 18-year career at the top of the game.
The Liverpool legend, 36, played over 500 times for the Reds and received over a century of caps for England during a glittering career.
But after ruling himself out of a management move earlier this week, what next for Gerrard? SunSport takes a look at the possibilities, taking inspiration from the 'Golden Generation'.
The Neville - Go into management
THE FORMER Liverpool midfielder is already working towards his Uefa A coaching licence - the second-highest qualification available.
Despite turning down a chance to break into management with MK Dons earlier this week, he hinted that a similar position would tempt him in the future after saying the job 'came too soon'.
He's been linked with coaching gigs at Newcastle and Celtic and may want to work his way up the ladder rather than being thrown in at the deep end like his England team-mate Neville was at Valencia.
We all know how that ended.
The Beckham - MLS franchise
GERRARD has already tested the water in the MLS with LA Galaxy, where he enjoyed a decent final season of his career.
David Beckham set up a Miami franchise in 2014 but the project is still in it's infancy, with the former England captain struggling to find a site to build a stadium.
It's unlikely that Gerrard would commit to such a venture - especially as his farewell note to the Galaxy faithful made it clear that he was leaving the States for a return to England.
The Scholes - buy a local club
A LIVERPOOL lad through and through, it's always possible that Gerrard could find himself looking further down the leagues to satisfy his football fix.
Paul Scholes has a large stake in Salford City and has admitted that he'd much rather watch them than the Premier League, after falling out of love with modern football.
But that doesn't seem Gerrard's style - he is a more extroverted character than Scholes and doesn't appear to have tired of the top-level game just yet.
Don't count on him taking out a stake in local clubs Marine or Prescot Cables any time soon.
The Bowyer - obscurity and a bit of fishing
PERHAPS after 18 years at the top Gerrard will just want to put his feet up and enjoy retirement?
Lee Bowyer did just that, ditching the limelight and moving to France to be a fisherman.
Gerrard's career has featured massive highs - that night in Instanbul springs straight to mind - and monumental lows, including THAT slip which will probably haunt him for the rest of his life.
But to completely drop out of football and do something else? We don't see it.
Instead, expect maybe a few months of recovery before he throws himself into something else.
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The Carragher - punditry
THERE'S always demand for former players airing their views from the comfort of the studio - especially if, like fellow scouser Jamie Carragher, you're quite good at it.
Expect to see Gerrard wheeled out in front of the cameras fairly often in the next few weeks following news of his retirement.
But with his coaching badges well underway he'll likely shun the advances of TV bigwigs to keep affecting matters on the pitch - as he's done for the past 18 years.