Speculation has swirled throughout the entire season whether Liverpool, under manager Jurgen Klopp, would be willing to hold onto their lethal frontman who has suffered well over his fair share of injuries, or offload in order to save wages. Debate has been surrounding Sturridge and where his career should head next.
Positives:
-He brings plenty of goals. Sturridge’s goalscoring record for Liverpool says it all, with the third best goals per game ratio in the Premier League, for Liverpool; 0.623 with 38 goals in 61 appearances since January 2013. Sturridge’s clinical finishing has proven to be the difference on a number of occasions in his time at the club, especially within the 2013-14 season where his crucial combination with Luis Suarez taking Liverpool inches away from the Premier League trophy, adding a career-best 21 goal haul for the season to boot.
-Can develop a dangerous attacking trio with Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino. Imagine a front three composed of the two Brazilian playmakers and a proven English goal-scorer in full flight and the fear it can strike in the opponent’s eyes. In top form, these three can mix it with the best, however have only started one game together – the recent 6-0 rout of Aston Villa. With 100% fitness and in best form, a consistent lineup featuring this trio can stake a very strong claim for the league eventually. However it all relies on Sturridge’s fitness, something that has been nothing but unfortunately unreliable this season.
-Can show Benteke the way. With Sturridge’s ongoing injury concerns, the burden fell over new Belgian signing, Christian Benteke from the beginning of the season who was initially preferred to Danny Ings and Divock Origi. Despite being Liverpool’s top goal-scorer in the Premier League at the time of writing, with six goals, it’s a bitterly disappointing return for such an expensive signing at 32.5 million pounds. The return of Sturridge to the first team can lift pressure off Benteke and allow him to quietly flourish once more. A change of formation may also beckon if Klopp wished to experiment with a two striker partnership of Sturridge and Benteke. The two may also develop a potent combination as 2014-15’s flop Mario Balotelli showed notable signs of improvement when Sturridge was in the side.
Negatives:
– Injuries, Injuries, Injuries. Since joining in 2013, Sturridge has missed a staggering 75 Liverpool matches in all competitions and has only played eight games this season (6 EPL, 1 Capital One Cup, 1 FA Cup) and has managed five goals as a positive. A hip injury kept Sturridge out for six months from late last season to early this season before further injuries to his knee and hamstring have continued to keep Sturridge on the sidelines for majority of the season. Unfortunately, it appears as though Sturridge has only been making guest cameo appearances since last season, having little time to reach his full form again before falling to a new injury. Former teammate of Daniel Sturridge and current pundit, Jamie Carragher, stated earlier this season that Sturridge always had to be “feeling 100%” in order to play.
– Significant loss of wages. For the past two injury-riddled seasons, Sturridge has still been getting paid his normal hefty wages which has been reason for frustration with the Liverpool manager and fans when it is understood that money may be getting wasted at the expense of keeping Sturridge rather than searching for another world-class striker. Sturridge, allegedly on 120,000 pounds a week, has earnt a substantial amount of money throughout his injury struggles which have largely impacted on Liverpool’s performances on the field. If Sturridge is hit with another long-term injury, Liverpool’s cheapest option would be to sell him for a good price before securing a worthy replacement. Newcastle was suggested as to be interested in the services of Sturridge in recent weeks.
– May never return to golden form of the 2013-14 campaign. Sturridge’s 2013-14 season was undoubtedly his best as a professional player as he clearly thrived off his combination with Suarez and playing in front of Steven Gerrard. With both players gone, and Sturridge possibly back for good now, only time will tell whether he will truly reach his full potential and return to his stunning form of two years ago. The 26 year-old showed promising signs in his return, at Aston Villa, scoring after just sixteen minutes, however there is a clear risk with persisting with the superstar next season in case he is struck by another career stalling setback.
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