Goalkeeper Deren Ibrahim wants to be Dartford manager when Tony Burman retires.

The 24-year-old is already part of the club’s academy management team and he’s working towards his UEFA A coaching licence.

Ibrahim wants to spend the next decade playing for the Darts but he could have an even bigger role to play in their future.

He said: "I do see myself coaching long-term.

"Last year I had an opportunity to go full-time at QPR but it would have meant stopping playing. At the time, I wasn’t playing but felt I still had a lot to offer.

"People forget I’ve only just turned 24 so I’ve got hopefully another 10 or 15 years of playing – hopefully for Dartford for those 15 years.

"As long as I can help the club in some way, shape or form all the time I’m here, that’s what I want.

"Long-term, I’ll hopefully be either a manager or a goalkeeper coach. I’d love to be a first-team goalkeeper coach, that’s the aim, just like the route Jason Brown took.

"If I went into management, I would like to manage Dartford one day. I couldn’t see myself managing somewhere else.

"It would either be managing Dartford or a first-team goalkeeper coach somewhere."

Ibrahim has known Burman since he was six years old and he now works alongside him on a daily basis.

He said: "I see the stress he’s under sometimes. You look at him and think ‘is it worth it long-term?’

"But what he’s done for the club is unbelievable. I feel sorry for anyone who does take over from him because people underestimate the job he’s done.

"They see it as the first team but what he’s done for the youth team and setting everything up, it’s going to be hard to beat.

"He’s got many years to go but hopefully whoever does eventually take over, buys into the philosophy of the club.

"It’s not like any ordinary club, it’s a family-run club - and that can’t be lost."

Pick up the Dartford Messenger to read the full interview as well as a feature with Deren Ibrahim on his role nurturing the next generation of Dartford players in the club's academy.