“Sometimes, yes,” he said. “Certainly not 2027. I hope I’m still playing at that point. But yeah, I would love to be the European team captain at some point.
“But that will be beyond my playing days, or at least when my playing days are coming to an end and I’m not good enough to make the team, or I make way for the new generation to come along.
“Hopefully that’s not in 2027. Hopefully I’m still good enough to play and put points on the board for Europe.
“But yeah, absolutely, I would love to be a captain one day, and I feel very fortunate that I’ve had a front-row seat playing under some of the best captains in history in the Ryder Cup.
“I think what Luke Donald has done the last two Ryder Cups has revolutionised the captaincy within Europe.
“And I feel like Paul McGinley in Gleneagles in 2014, he was a wonderful captain, and I learned a lot from him. And there’s been wonderful captains between them as well. All of them have been wonderful.
“But I think the time and the effort and the dedication that Luke Donald has put into the last four years, it’s been absolutely amazing.
“He has 100 percent respect of the entire team and everyone that’s worked for him and all been behind him. If I can be nearly as good as a captain as Luke Donald, I’ll have done a good job.
“So hopefully one day in the future, but I’d say not until the mid-2030s, hopefully, if I can keep playing well.”
While Donald, speaking ahead of the DP World India Championship, admitted he hopes to be involved at Adare Manor in some capacity, he also believes McIlroy’s passion for the competition would make him the perfect captain in the future.
He said: “I’m trying to still enjoy this one! If I’m not a captain in two years’ time and the captain wants me to be there, then I’m sure I would be happy to help him in any way he wanted.”
On McIlroy, he continued: “He loves the Ryder Cup more than anything. He made it quite evident that winning an away Ryder Cup would really be the icing on an amazing year that he had [in winning the Masters for the career Grand Slam].
“He loves what it represents. You’ve seen the emotion from losing to winning. Anyone that has that passion for a Ryder Cup, I think, would make a good captain.”