Liverpool: Sturridge latest; Juventus join race for youngster; blow in pursuit of German attacker

By John Arkless

Liverpool played their first game at the new look Anfield yesterday, claiming a highly impressive 4-1 victory over champions Leicester City in front of a record crowd. The new main stand added an extra 9,000 seats to the capacity of the stadium, taking the total amount of fans to just over 54,000, and they were not let down by the performance of the men in Red.

The 54,000 fans also got the chance to see Daniel Sturridge start a game for just the second time this season, and there was plenty to be impressed with, especially in his work rate, despite not scoring one of Liverpool’s four goals.

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Still, there had been news that the 27-year-old was becoming increasingly frustrated with being played out of position or on the bench, and that Jurgen Klopp was becoming disillusioned with the Englishman’s injury record, but the manager has gone on record to say that there is no problem between player and manager.

After the game, Klopp said, “with Daniel there was not one second a problem that he’s not happy when he doesn’t start. I think a player has to be like this. That’s no problem.”

It will be a relief to Liverpool fans that there is no rift between their manager and their best goalscorer. Sturridge may not be as tailor-made for Klopp’s high intensity style as the likes of Sadio Mane, but he will score at least 20 league goals this season if he remains fit. He is very important to the Reds, and looks as if he will play a big part this season, even f he occasionally has to start from the bench.

In transfer news, the Reds potentially have some high class competition for young German midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud, after it was revealed that Juventus are interested in signing the 20-year-old.

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Dahoud attracted a lot of interest last summer, and Liverpool were willing to part with £25 million in order to convince Borussia Moenchengladbach that they should part with the youngster. The Reds also looked as if they were front runners a few days ago, when it was revealed that Gladbach may offer Dahoud to them in January, due to a clause in his contract which will make the tough-tackler available for just €10 million next summer.

Although Jordan Henderson is doing a decent job at the base of Liverpool’s midfield, the absence of Emre Can has shown just how limited Jurgen Klopp’s side are in this area, and the signing of Dahoud would be both a short term fix and a long term solution to a midfield problem that has raged since Rafael Benitez departed the club. The Reds need to ensure that they sign their man ahead of the likes of Juventus.

Finally, the Reds have been dealt another blow in the chase of another 20-year-old German after Max Meyer said he wished to stay at Schalke for the next season at least.

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Meyer, who shone for Germany during the Olympic games, said that he will not “exit through the back door” with two years left on his current contract. Whether this means he wishes to see out his deal or will only leave for a big fee is not known, but he appears settled at Schalke.

Although the Reds would be boosted by having such a talent in the squad, they have a lot of depth in attacking midfield, and will still score plenty of goals without the German.

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