It has been one of the most surprising stories of the start of the Premier League season, but with just two days to go in the transfer window, it appears that the future of striker Daniel Sturridge may be slightly up in the air with the striker struggling to hold down a place in the starting eleven.
Sky Sports’ Sunday Supplement claimed that Sturridge, who was restricted to a paltry two minute cameo against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend, is keen to depart the club who revived his career when he joined for £12 million three and a half seasons ago.
Sturridge has either played from the right wing or as a substitute this season, sparking speculation that the striker is unhappy with his current role and will be seeking a move away.
However, Jurgen Klopp has put pay to the idea of selling Sturridge, claiming that his omission from the Tottenham game was more as a result of Sturridge having a comparatively short pre-season in order to get fit, and that he doesn’t have a mountain to climb to return to the first eleven, as was suggested by former Red Graeme Souness.
Although his injury record is frustrating, the 26-year-old has scored a remarkable 55 goals in 95 appearances for the Reds, in spite of his long periods on the treatment table. If Sturridge is fit and firing, and can also buy into Jurgen Klopp’s high pressing style, Liverpool have a 25 goal a season striker sitting in their squad currently doing very little. They’d be daft to let him go.
One factor which may complicate Sturridge’s future, though, is the news that Liverpool are reportedly preparing a £30 million bid for Gremio striker Luan.
Luan, who won a gold medal for Brazil at this summer’s Olympic Games has scored 38 goals in 147 appearances for Gremio and would come with a massive price tag. He has apparently also been attracting interest from Manchester United and Barcelona throughout the summer window.
However, considering the goals record for Luan, which is very average for a striker in the Brazilian league, one can question the sense in selling a proven Premier League striker such as Daniel Sturridge to take an expensive gamble on a striker who has never played in Europe and is not even a regular for his national team, who are arguably at their lowest ever ebb.
Luan is certainly talented, but he doesn’t give the impression of being a starting centre forward for a top Premier League club, and for that reason, Liverpool should avoid spending £30 million on a player that will essentially be for squad depth.
Finally, Jurgen Klopp has rubbished suggestions that Jordan Henderson may be up for sale this summer, with the club captain receiving a lot of criticism from fans over his recent performances.
It must be remembered that Henderson is coming back from a difficult season of injury, and his importance to the team is still quite strong. He has improved a lot as a player since joining Liverpool in 2011, and their title challenge of 2013/14 fell apart when Henderson suffered a suspension. His energy was dearly missed and Liverpool lost to Chelsea and threw away a 3-0 lead over Crystal Palace.
Currently learning a new position at the base of the midfield, Henderson needs time to get back to his best, but has received backing from the manager who has said if he didn’t believe in the Englishman, he wouldn’t be in the squad. It looks like the captain is sticking around for a while longer.
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