The pros and cons of signing Daniel Sturridge at Leicester City
By Matt Taylor
With former England striker Daniel Sturridge out of contract with Liverpool this summer, there is opportunity for a reunion with Brendan Rodgers at Leicester City.
It was confirmed this week that Premier League title-winner and all-round good guy, Shinji Okazaki was set to leave the Foxes this summer when his contract expires. This will leave Leicester City with only two recognised senior strikers in Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho.
Although a new forward was presumably a top priority already this summer, the departure of Okazaki places further emphasis on bolstering Leicester’s attacking options. Daniel Sturridge, who is also available on a free in the coming transfer window, would be a financially risk-free solution to the current lack of options up-front at King Power Stadium.
Signing the 29-year-old on a free would also leave plenty of money in the kitty for City’s more lucrative targets, such as Youri Tielemans, Hakim Ziyech or Aleksandar Mitrovic.
This season, the Liverpool player has only managed two goals and one assist in his 16 appearances, although he has netted every 167 minutes on average, less than once every two games. Not to mention his effort at Chelsea being a complete worldie. If he consistently managed this over the course of a full campaign, he would be looking at a tally of 19.
Injury risk for Leicester City to consider
However, this would rely on the former Manchester City man avoiding injury for an entire season. A feat that he hasn’t managed since 2011/12, via TransferMarkt. In a comparable scenario to West Ham United’s Jack Wilshere, it’s almost cliche to reference the pair in relation to continuously persistent injuries.
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Despite having his career plagued with a plethora of setbacks, particularly hamstring and hip, Sturridge has managed 50 goals in 114 premier league appearances for Liverpool. Pedigree is a word which comes to mind in the respect of that goalscoring record.
Meanwhile, it seems that the worst of his injuries are behind him. Since missing a whopping 34 games between November 2014 and September 2015, Sturridge has only suffered a string of minor setbacks.
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Leicester City could do a lot worse than snapping the 29-year-old up. Back when current City boss, Rodgers, was at Liverpool, the England international registered his best goalscoring tally, with a 21-goal haul in the infamous 2013/14 season which saw the Reds narrowly miss out on the title. Is anyone else surprised he’s only age-29?