FURTHER doubt was cast on Daniel Sturridge’s Liverpool future with the striker again showing his visible displeasure at being substituted – this time during the Reds’ 1-1 draw with Tottenham.
The England international made his ninth appearance since coming back from his latest injury lay-off, but is yet to complete 90 minutes.
His 71 minutes at Anfield against Spurs represented his longest involvement yet, but when he was replaced by Divock Origi, he walked off the pitch clearly unhappy with the decision.
And with manager Jurgen Klopp stressing he removed Sturridge for tactical reasons, not as part of a strategy to manage his fitness, the speculation will only increase that the forward could be on his way out of Liverpool at the end of the season.
Klopp, however, is not bothered by his striker’s frustrations.
“I think that’s completely normal, especially with the quality of Daniel Sturridge,” he said.
“He has to think ‘leave me on the pitch and I can decide the game’.
“That’s true, but in this moment we need other help in the game. We needed ways behind the line. We needed Divock’s physical strength so I changed.
“I could have changed Adam Lallana and gone with two strikers. But in my opinion, and only my opinion counts, it didn’t make sense so that’s it.”
Certainly there would be no shortage of offers for Sturridge were he to depart but, having already been and gone at Chelsea and Manchester City, his options if he wants to remain at a big club in England are not great.
The only way he can ‘force’ Klopp to give him more playing time is to keep scoring goals but at the moment the writing on the wall is becoming clearer by the week.
Is Sturridge crucial to Liverpool’s future?
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