#360view: Time Liverpool cut their losses on Sturridge

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  • Is it time for Liverpool to cut their losses on striker Sturridge?

    Nobody, not even Jurgen Klopp himself, knows when Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge will be back from his

    annual sabbatical.

    However, you suspect the German has already made his mind up on the England international’s future at Anfield.

    A report emerged this week suggesting that Sturridge’s horrendous injury record means he is now costing the club a staggering £542,000 (Dh2.8m) per goal.

    His purported £150,000-a-week (Dh779,000) wages for the 44 goals in his three-year career with the Reds is hitting their finances hard. He is a luxury Klopp cannot afford to be patient or flexible with.

    So where does this leave him now? Undoubtedly, he has talent and of course he is a world-class finisher.

    In fact, he is arguably Liverpool’s most gifted player. His touch, speed and finishing ability has meant his ratio is better than any of the strikers to have played in more than 50 games for Liverpool.

    But none of that matters when you can’t utilise those obvious gifts on the pitch on a consistent basis.

    And it’s an issue that clearly provokes the ire of Klopp. It is said the one player who impressed him the most when he took his first Liverpool training session was Sturridge. He had heard how good he was but up close he saw a different animal, one that his team-mates couldn’t stop in training.

    His press conferences since taking over from Brendan Rodgers in October, as expected, have been illuminating. Yet, whenever talk turns to Sturridge he offers short and direct responses.

    And of all the soundbites in the lead up to last night’s FA Cup replay with Exeter City, it was his reply to a question about the 26-year-old that spoke the most volume once again.

    “No chance,” he said, when asked if Sturridge would feature in the tie. Whenever the injury-plagued striker is the line of questioning, the German has offered an unambiguous and seemingly frustrated response.

    It should be made clear it’s not his fault that since Luis Suarez’s departure he has been fit enough to play in just 24 of Liverpool’s 91 games. But it’s become a moot point because Klopp doesn’t seem to be the type of guy that is keen on waiting around when something isn’t quite working.

    It begs the question as to why the club offered him new terms in October 2014 when he had more than three-and-a-half years left on his previous deal and at the time was out of the side with a torn thigh muscle.

    It now presents them with a deeper problem in that he is their highest-paid player with a contract lasting until 2019.

    In hindsight, that was a mistake and it’s time the club and the supporters get realistic because the situation will not improve.

    Consider this. Michael Owen was 26 when decline set in as a result of injuries.

    Sturridge is now the same age. It’s time to accept that he is not and will not be the main man Liverpool need. But you suspect Klopp already knows that.

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