Liverpool great Ian Rush is convinced Steven Gerrard will leave Aston Villa if the Anfield job becomes available.

Former Rangers manager Gerrard returned to the Premier League on Thursday after being unveiled as Aston Villa's new manager to succeed the sacked Dean Smith, six years after playing his last game for Liverpool.

"'I know a lot of people view it as a stepping stone towards eventually replacing Jurgen Klopp," Rush told Gambling.com. "But at the end of the day Liverpool is one of the biggest clubs in the world and Stevie spent pretty much his whole career there, so it's only natural that he would one day hope to manage the club.

"But at the moment I really don't think that will be in his mind at all, he'll be focusing on doing his best for Aston Villa, see how he gets on and take it from there.

"We've seen club legends take over at Liverpool at the past and it has been great but there have been times when it hasn't quite worked out too, but it's a risk you have to take if the opportunity comes along. Make no mistake though, Stevie will be 100 per cent focused on Villa.

"Having said that, it's also a risk taking the Villa job because if it doesn't work out, it harms his chances of getting the Liverpool job down the line. If it doesn't go well and he ends up out of a job, then I think it would be best for him to jump straight back in to another job because if you stay out of the game for a while you get forgotten about very quickly.

"Stevie can't afford to be thinking too far ahead though, he's got to have no regrets about the path he takes in his managerial career and this is no doubt a good opportunity to improve his ability as a manager at the highest level."