Three players Stoke City should target during the January transfer window

Add as preferred source on Google

Daniel Sturridge

Whilst Stoke City have made significant forward strides under the guidance of Mark Hughes over the last three-and-a-half years they appear to have reached something of a glass ceiling in the Premier League.

Three consecutive top-ten finishes for The Potters under the guidance of their Welsh manager suggests that the club is now established as a permanent fixture in the top flight of English football, but that  further investment will be required if they are to starting pushing for a place in the  Europa League.

As with any successful football team, goals win games, but at this current moment in time Stoke lack the certified goal-scoring striker that will be required if they are to push on and reach the cliché ‘next level’.

Mark Hughes could do worse than make an enquiry for unsettled Liverpool and England striker Daniel Sturridge. The forward has fallen down the pecking under at Anfield under the management of Jurgen Klopp and has found regular game time increasingly difficult to find since the summer.

Injuries have played a role in the 27-year-old’s regression to the substitutes bench, but everyone associated with football in England will tell you that a fit Sturridge playing regularly guarantees goals. Stoke would be able to provide Sturridge with a regular starting berth leading their forward line and in return the England international could fire the club into contention for European football.

However, any potential deal would have to overcome a number of transfer-ending issues. Jurgen Klopp may be unwilling to allow Sturridge to leave Anfield in January with fellow forward Sadio Mane set to be unavailable when he participates in the African Cup of Nations whilst Danny Ings continues to be hampered by injury struggles.

Stoke have proven in recent transfer-windows that they have the financial clout to match any club in Europe and who is to say that Sturridge will not be inspired by the example of Joe Allen, who has rejuvenated his career in The Potteries after leaving Liverpool in the summer.