Many Liverpool fans thought they would never see Daniel Sturridge dance in a Liverpool shirt ever again, but his late goal against West Ham after only being on the pitch for 24 seconds gave us the wonderful sight of his wavy arms once again.
It seemed set for some time that Sturridge’s Liverpool career would come to an end this summer and his January loan move to West Brom just delayed the inevitable, but in a weird way, his time at The Hawthorns may have actually saved his Liverpool career. Those few months away have opened his eyes.
Surely Sturridge knew that his time on Merseyside was up and was planning for life after the Reds, but after only making 6 league appearances and with his time at West Brom ending with the club’s relegation, there was a real possibility that Sturridge would have just ended up at another bottom half club. Liverpool was his last chance at the top level and his failure at West Brom finally made him realise that.
So come the being of pre-season Sturridge is a man on a mission, a man set on saving his career. Jürgen Klopp said during pre-season that he was in consistent talks with Sturridge about his future and it is clear that those talks and his loan spell have lit a fire under him. And with his contract expiring at the end of the season, it is now or never.
Sturridge looks like a different man. He featured in all 9 pre-season games scoring 6 goals. For the first time in 2 years Sturridge looks like he can contribute to Liverpool again. From what we’ve seen so far he has adapted his game to match Klopp’s style and make up for all his lost pace due to injuries. In pre-season we saw Sturridge drop deep far more than usual and link up play, ala Roberto Firmino.
Just like we saw against West Ham, Sturridge can be a very valuable option off the bench. Last season when Klopp looked to his bench for goals he had to call upon Dominic Solanke and Danny Ings, now he can look to Sturridge, which is a significant upgrade. Imagine being able to bring on a fully fit and firing Sturridge late on when you need a winner, game changer.
And, with Liverpool’s current back up striking options being the aforementioned Solanke, who has only scored one goal in his Liverpool career so far, an 18-year-old Rhian Brewster, who is unlikely to step on to the pitch again this year and, if he stays, an out of form, out of favour Divock Origi, Sturridge will be tasked with carrying the load with Firmino.
Only time will tell if the 28-year-old can put his injury problems behind him, but if he can there aren’t many better pure finishers in the world than Sturridge. He seems to finally have earned Klopp’s trust and if everything goes to plan, Sturridge will definitely play a significant role this season and will be a key player in this squad. This is his last chance to impress and so far Sturridge has taken his opportunities and ran with them.
