Make or break season for Daniel Sturridge

Daniel Sturridge’s future at Liverpool rests completely on how this season goes for him. It could either end with him becoming a world-class striker at Anfield, perhaps propelling the Reds back into the Champions League. Or, it could end with Brendan Rodgers attempting to remove him from the wage bill.

Despite being the runner-up for the Golden Boot award during the 2013-14 season and being arguably one of the deadliest strikers in England – perhaps even Europe – when fit, after last season I have my doubts over Sturridge’s future at Liverpool.

These doubts really stem from two words that I’ve already said in this piece: “when fit”.

Sturridge is without a doubt an incredible striker, his stats can back that point up. In 55 Premier League games for Liverpool, he has scored 35 goals. He has 40 goals in 66 games in all competitions.

Over only one full season and two half-seasons, that is an incredibly impressive return. Ten goals in 14 appearances in the Prem in 2012-13, and 21 in 29 in the Prem in 2013-14. The stats show what we all already know; that Sturridge is one of the best strikers in the league. For me he’s up there with Aguero and Costa.

When fit.

The 2014-15 season for Sturridge is without doubt one he will want to put behind him, as soon as possible. He started the season well enough, scoring the winner in a 2-1 opening day win against Southampton at Anfield, and putting in a positive display against Spurs, linking well with new boy Mario Balotelli.

However, an injury suffered during England training (still haven’t forgiven Roy for that one) meant that he would be out for an extended period, not returning for Liverpool in a competitive match until January 31, after suffering another two setbacks during that time.

He did score in his returning match however, making it 2-0 with an 87th minute goal against West Ham. Things were looking up, for Sturridge and for Liverpool. Especially after he scored against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup, and then Burnley in the Prem. Then he scored against our rivals, Manchester United. We had our lethal striker back, we had the Sturridge from 2013-14 back. Or so we thought.

We lost 2-1 to United and Sturridge got injured in the cup at Blackburn, and that was it for him for the season.

But this is where my doubts about our striker come from; last season showed it for everyone to see. Daniel Sturridge is an injury-prone striker, and it seems to be a huge struggle to keep him fit. Over the course of last season, Sturridge suffered four injuries (two to his thigh, one to his calf, and one to his hip).

His hip injury led to him getting surgery in May, which has kept him out for so long and is the reason why he is yet to get any playing time for the Reds this season.

The ex-Chelsea man is expected to return to Melwood for training in the next week after spending time in Boston rehabilitating, as per the Liverpool Echo, and could possibly be fit for the game coming up in a few weeks’ time against United, according to the Guardian.

In an ideal world, Sturridge comes back against United, bangs in two hat-tricks, all of which are absolute worldies, and leaves the United fans at Old Trafford crying as he celebrates his sixth goal in front of the Stretford End.

But I’ll settle for him coming back and putting in a solid performance, perhaps getting a goal as well.

I’d love to see him build on from there though and pick up some good form so we can begin to see the deadly striker we all know he has the potential to be. If he does that, and keeps fit for the season, I honestly think he could pick up the Golden Boot this season and his Liverpool career would continue to flourish from there.

However, let’s be realistic. It is incredibly unlikely we will see him get through this whole season without picking up another injury. This is something that I’ve come to terms with, because as long as he can hit some form when he returns and he isn’t out injured for too long, it really won’t be a problem for Liverpool. We have enough options up front for an injured Sturridge to not be an issue; we’ve learnt our lessons from last season.

But the issue for me is this: will the club want to have a player on a high wage who is injured more often than he is fit? As good as Sturridge is when he’s in form, the answer to that question is no, they won’t want that. So if he has a season similar to last season, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the club try to cash in and sell Sturridge. I think Liverpool would still get a hefty sum for him, possibly around the £20-25m mark if they were to offload him, but that would still not be close to what he is worth when fit and in great form.

At the level Liverpool aim to be at – a team competing in the Champions League and challenging for the title – you can’t afford to have a player who is consistently injured in your squad, no matter how good he may be. It takes up a place in the squad for another striker, or would prevent us from attempting to purchase another top quality striker as a replacement.

So, ultimately, it comes down to this for Sturridge:

– Have a repeat of last season, struggle for fitness and be marginalised from the squad essentially and eventually, leave the club with a reputation as an injury prone player.

– Get fit and playing, stay fit and playing, and start to pick up form again. Start banging in goals, and stay on at Liverpool, hopefully put his injury problems behind him and become one of the world’s most lethal strikers with the Reds.

Now these are the two ends of the spectrum, two extremes, but based on the events of this season and how it plays out, either could happen. I’m praying for the latter.