Ian Ayre has left the door open for Steven Gerrard to return on loan to Liverpool once he moves to the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Principal owner, John W Henry, and manager Brendan Rodgers have both said there will always be a role for the midfielder at the club whenever he decides to return but Ayre has not ruled out the possibility of Gerrard returning as a player.

“I’ve said openly to Steven and his representatives, as have Brendan and the owners, that we see Steven as part of the family,” he told Liverpool radio station City Talk. “The fact that he’s leaving at the end of the season doesn’t mean it’s the last we’ll see of him at Liverpool. What that means, the details aren’t known yet, but we will keep a regular dialogue with him and I hope we will see him here again in the long term.”

Asked if that could mean a return on loan next January, Ayre said: “It’s conceivable. It happens a lot in MLS and it’s something we talked to Steven and his representatives about. You can’t have someone who has so much of the club’s DNA in them and just expect that it will go away.”