Merely a day or two after Liverpool tasted the sweet nectar of victory in Madrid, it was time to bring an end to the stop start Anfield career of injury prone striker Daniel Sturridge.
The experienced England international was sat on the bench as the Reds collected their sixth European Cup/Champions League trophy and to add insult to injury the former Chelsea and Man City man was forced to watch as Belgian substitute Divock Origi came on to score the crucial second goal against Tottenham.
Indeed, Origi has become something of a super-sub over the past 18 months and all but sealed Sturridge’s Liverpool fate.
Proven Goalscorer
29-year-old Sturridge has served Liverpool well since his £12m move to Merseyside back in January 2013, but it’s the lack of playing time that has proven a real thorn in the finisher’s side and this is part of the reason why Klopp has chosen not to renew his contract this summer.
When called upon Sturridge has usually delivered the goods. The one season he was truly free of any injuries, 2013-14, he managed a superb ratio of 24 goals in 33 appearances across all competitions. In that campaign Brendan Rodgers almost guided Liverpool to a Premier League title, but for Gerrard’s infamous slip against Chelsea.
Since Jurgen Klopp took charge at Liverpool things have proven problematic for Sturridge, even as a bit-part player.
The past two seasons have seen the German boss stick with the hugely effective front trio of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino and even elected to loan out Sturridge to West Brom, a move that failed to secure interest in his services on a permanent basis.
New Start
Now that Sturridge is available on a free transfer it’s certain a number of top sides will sit up and take notice. One imagines the Birmingham born forward would look to stay in the English top tier and surely a side outside the top six would take a punt on the player.
Perhaps newly promoted Aston Villa would consider a move for Sturridge, especially if Chelsea choose to bring back Tammy Abraham back to Stamford Bridge from his loan spell in the Midlands.
Over the course of Sturridge’s five and a half years with Liverpool Sturridge managed 67 goals from 160 appearances, of which 62 were from the bench.
If you want to keep an eye on how Liverpool mount a title challenge in 2019-20 then you’ll have to know how to stream the EPL from anywhere. That way you can cheer on Klopp’s men as they seek to finally end their long wait for a domestic title.
