Managing director Christian Purslow and club legend Kenny Dalglish have begun the search for Rafael Benitez's replacement after the Spaniard left the club by mutual consent on Thursday.

The Scot has himself been tipped as a potential replacement - possibly on an interim basis while owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks look to sell the club.

But Barnes told BBC Radio Five Live: "Whoever comes in should come in now and say 'I'm the manager of Liverpool' - not short term, and you can't really say long term because as a manager you know two years and you're not going to be there.

"I think Kenny would do a fantastic job, but I've no idea (whether he wants to go back into management)."

With limited funding available, Barnes admits the incoming manager must get the best out of a squad whose lack of depth was exposed in last season's seventh-place finish in the Barclays Premier League.

"The new manager has got to be someone who can come in and work with the existing squad," he said.

"I hope Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres stay because I think they've been our best players."

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez believes his fellow Spaniard is assured of a place in Anfield history - and sees his departure as an indication of the heightened expectations in football.

Benitez's six-year tenure ended in a disappointing 2009/10 campaign in which the Reds were eliminated from the Champions League at the group stage as well as crashing five places from the previous year's league position.

But the Reds won the European Cup and FA Cup as well as reaching another Champions League final in Benitez's first three years in charge.

Martinez said: "In any club with the expectation of Liverpool - or Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona, Real Madrid - you start to accept that nothing will surprise you.

"I think Rafael Benitez will look back at his time at Liverpool, I think the fans and the players will do the same, and it has been an extremely successful period," he said.

"In football these days there are many reasons (why managers leave), with the ownerships and the situation at a club, and I think we are starting to get used to these sorts of situations.

"I think everyone will agree that Rafael Benitez brought huge success in Europe, bringing the Champions League and taking the team to another final.

"He is going to be part of their folklore and their history and that is the way it should be."