Liverpool have made more than their fair share of transfer howlers over the past decade or so, and they simply must not do so again. Selling Daniel Sturridge would be tantamount to goalscoring suicide by Jurgen Klopp and, although he wasn’t given a start in the Europa League last week, everyone knows how crucial he is for the Reds.
Since the traumatic sale of Luis Suarez, Liverpool have been putting all of their eggs firmly into Daniel Sturridge’s basket, clutching on to hope that he will retain fitness for the season. They’ve had to make some dodgy signings to compensate for their reliance on Sturridge, with Christian Benteke’s poor first season at Anfield showing how good the ex-Chelsea and Man City man is, and has been.
Raheem Sterling joined Luis Suarez in forcing his way out of the club and Sturridge is the last man standing of the infamous 2013/14 ‘SAS’. Sturridge departing the club may well be justified in terms of Klopp wants to do long-term, but we reckon it would be a horrible decision.
So, here are FIVE reasons to keep the England international…
Goals goals goals
Strikers are not just there to score goals, but Danny Sturridge provides more than his fair share.
In each of his Premier League campaigns with Liverpool he has averaged better than one in two and he has continued that fine form this season. When others have struggled to find the net, Sturridge has been a ruthless finisher and his eye for goal has carried Liverpool at times.
Who else?
Who can Liverpool realistically attract that will provide a better all-round performance than Daniel Sturridge?
His goals-per-minute record is sensational and the Reds, without Champions League football, cannot compete for the true elite European strikers. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gonzalo Higuain or Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not look to move to a club that isn’t competing in Europe and Liverpool aren’t exactly guaranteed to make the top four next season.
He’s got it all..
Not many players can boast a complete a game as Sturridge.
Other than his weaknesses in the air, Sturridge has a lot of pace, a precise left-foot and, aside from the occasional greedy moment, has really developed his link-up play. As with many strikers, Sturridge’s first instinct is to shoot and this can seem ambitious. However, when you score them as often as he does, you can get let off.
Changing face…
Liverpool may well have a squad overhaul this summer. Their striking options are probably the best of any position within their squad and selling Sturridge would make for more changes than are really needed.
It is likely a goalkeeper, centre-back and defensive midfielder will be signed, whilst a winger is probably a likely addition, too. Any club wants to minimise the amount of turmoil within a campaign and Liverpool should be no different.
Building chemistry
Liverpool’s various attacking options are beginning to work together better than ever before, why change it?
Selling Sturridge and bringing in a new forward would, you’d expect, set that back somewhat. Firmino, Coutinho, Lallana and Sturridge are working well together and linking up in mouth-watering fashion, it’d be criminal to change that.