Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann is convinced that outgoing manager Jürgen Klopp will be honoured with a statue for his work at Anfield over the past nine years.
Hamann said that Klopp has cult status due to his success with the team and his overall appearance, and expects the fellow German to be honoured in the same way as legendary Reds manager Bill Shankly whose statue is in front of the Kop stand.
"The bond between fans and players and coaches is what makes the club. But I don't think any other coach has given them this love in return," Hamann told dpa.
"That's why I think they'll build a statue of him alongside Bill Shankly, immortalise him."
Klopp took charge in October 2015 and won a host of titles, including the Champions League in 2019 and a first Premier League trophy in three decades in 2020.
Klopp said in January that he will step down after the season, with Sunday's Premier League finale against Wolverhampton Wanderers his last game.
Hamann, who played for Liverpool 1999-2006 and was part of the team that came from three goals down to beat AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final, said that Klopp "changed the mindset at the club and in the whole city.
"He will go down in the history books and I think you can speak of an era in this age," the Sky TV pundit Hamann said.
Hamann added that Klopp's successor, revealed to be Dutchman Arne Slot who comes from Feyenoord, will have a difficult start after the Klopp era.
"It will be difficult, of course. You saw at Man United and Arsenal what happened after [Sir Alex] Ferguson and [Arsene] Wenger left," Hamann said.
However, Hamann also spoke of a chance for the new man because Klopp already started reshaping the team this term and Slot won't have to start from scratch.
"If the new coach had come in last year, it would have been impossible. It's perhaps also a reason why Klopp stayed on this year. Now they have a very decent team," Hamann said.