Liverpool should get to work on a statue of Jurgen Klopp as soon as the Premier League title is secured, says club legend Steven Gerrard.
The coronavirus pandemic forced the season to be suspended in March with Liverpool 25 points clear at the top and just two wins away from sealing top-flight success for the first time since 1990.
The 2019-20 campaign will get back under way behind closed doors on Wednesday, with second-placed Manchester City taking on Arsenal in their game in hand.
Defeat for Pep Guardiola's defending champions would offer Liverpool a chance to clinch the trophy against local rivals Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.
Bill Shankly won three league titles with the Reds, while Bob Paisley led the club to six top-flight triumphs and three European Cups. Both are immortalised in bronze outside Anfield.
Former Liverpool captain Gerrard has no doubt the same honour awaits Klopp, who masterminded Champions League and Club World Cup triumphs last year.
"Knowing Jurgen, he won't want to be put in that bracket. I know what he's like, he's humble and respectful," Gerrard told The Athletic. "When you look at the scale of the job he's done, for sure he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as those iconic managers.
"What you need to take into consideration is that when Jurgen took over Liverpool they weren't close to being the best team in the country, they weren't even in the top four.
"To come to Liverpool when he did, get to the amount of finals that he has, deliver the sixth European Cup and then deliver the first league title after 30 years…
"For me, someone like Jurgen should be rewarded now. It seems like in football we often wait until people get older before their achievements are fully recognised.
"But I know the owners of Liverpool won't let that happen. When Jurgen delivers the league they should already be starting work on a statue of him."
Gerrard describes Klopp as "the best manager in the world", and says his appreciation of the former Borussia Dortmund head coach has only deepened through personal experience of being a boss at Rangers.
Gerrard won two FA Cups, three EFL Cups, a UEFA Cup and the Champions League during a 17-year career with Liverpool, but the Premier League title eluded him.
However, seeing the team lift the trophy will make him "the proudest man on the planet".
"You don't want to count your chickens until it's certain but I think we all know that it's inevitable," said Gerrard. "For me, there will be a lot of relief. Being a fan for a lot of those years and being a player and coming ever so close, you know that this is the one that people have craved."
