Daniel Sturridge will not play for Liverpool in January, Jurgen Klopp has confirmed in the Daily Mail, with the manager also admitting he is frustrated with the striker’s injury situation.
(You and us both, Jurgen!)
Sturridge hasn’t played since early December, when he returned for a game and a bit against Southampton and then Newcastle. He bagged two goals in that time, but we’ve missed his pace, running and finishing so dearly in his absence.
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“I had 15 months with Ilkay Gundogan (at Borussia Dortmund) where we had to all wait but it was his back and we had no chance to force it. It’s not a back problem with Daniel but it’s the muscle,” Klopp began.
“Out of responsibility, we have to do everything we can to give him the physical strength to be able to play Premier League football. We all know it’s pretty easy for him when he’s fit, but at this moment he isn’t.
“We cannot change this and I am not thinking about making a general decision (about him) at the moment. To have a player like Daniel in your squad is always a good situation, and when it’s not possible to use him, it’s not a good situation.
“He’s not (training) with the team at the moment, that’s right. But we have enough games this season when we hopefully can use him but not, if nothing happens, for at least the next 10 days.
“You can’t be nearly fit, then playing, then injured again, then nearly fit, then playing, then injured again, then during training something like injured again, and then you say after five days ‘come on’ to pick the day you get him and then he gets the next injury.
“We have to patient. That’s not my best skill, to be honest. But in this case I have no other choice.”
Sturridge has started just four matches this season, but has scored four goals in total. When you realise Liverpool’s top scorer Christian Benteke only has seven, it’s not hard to see how invaluable the Englishman is to our cause.
But Liverpool fans will have to remain patient. There seems no chance of the forward leaving this January, with West Ham manager Slaven Bilic ruling out a potential move for our crocked 26-year-old via the Echo.
We can’t imagine he’d pass a medical anyway, in truth.