Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard believes that the club could have achieved remarkable success had Jurgen Klopp been appointed manager three of four years earlier.
Club icon Gerrard, who never won a Premier League crown at Anfield, had left for LA Galaxy by the time the German took charge in 2015, and he rues the fact he never got to work with the former Borussia Dortmund boss, having turned out for the Reds against Sydney FC in a friendly earlier this week.
"I was looking around and it was a strange feeling out there," he told the Liverpool Echo. "I was thinking if Jurgen Klopp had been at the club a bit earlier what might have been.
"There's no doubt about it, if he had been here three or four years [ago] I believe I would have been part of him delivering big trophies for this club.
"It's his aura and the way he is with you – how he makes you feel.
"I went out there to play in a friendly and I felt like it was the World Cup final. That's what he gives players.
"We're blessed to have him and hopefully we can go from strength to strength over the summer. Everyone is excited."
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Klopp secured a return to the Champions League in his first full season at the helm at Anfield and is keen to bolster his squad for their additional duties.
While the chance to compete at European football's top table will help attract new players, Gerrard believes their German manager will be just as influential in bringing in big names.
"If I'm a top player around Europe and Jurgen picks the phone up and I get offered the chance to play for this club, which is moving forward in every single department and has a world-class manager leading it, I'd be jumping at that opportunity," he said.
"I want to play for him and I am 37 next week! For me, it's such an exciting project. Not just because we qualified for the Champions League but the whole project.
"The next three, four, five, six years, whatever it turns out to be, are going to be very exciting and players will want to be a part of what Jurgen is doing."
Gerrard will take charge of Liverpool's Under-18s next season so will get to work with Klopp, but not as a player, as he might have wished.