According to reports in Turkey, Liverpool are keen to cash in on Daniel Sturridge and are willing to offload him for £13m this summr – a deal that both Besiktas and Newcastle are believed to be interested in.
It had looked like the out of sorts England striker was heading to St James’ Park on loan back in January, however he opted to sign for Alan Pardew’s West Brom instead at the last minute.
As it turned out, he was an even bigger flop than our eventual January signing Islam Slimani – starting just once, contributing no goals or assists and being unable to stop them from relegation to the Championship.
If his infamous fitness concerns did not exist, it could be an absolute bargain for Newcastle and a brilliant move for all parties, but Sturridge’s injury record really is a huge concern.
Aksam claim that the ‘passionate’ response from Besiktas could ‘tempt’ the 28-year-old to prefer Turkey over Tyneside and it may be just as well.
Benitez is clearly a fan (having tried to get him in January), but I don’t quite see how a player of his fragility manages to work in a team that prides itself on energy, pressing and giving 110%.
In a market where even semi-proven strikers cost way over £20m, Sturridge may seem a risk worth taking at £13m, but it seems far more likely to me that he’d be a costly mistake who’d spend more time on the sidelines than he would scoring goals.
Sturridge s injury track record speaks volumes, he will spend more time on the sidelines than play time, and his work rate on the pitch leaves much to be desired.
Although we didn’t fare any better with Slimani, West Brom did us a favour.
Nope, wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole.
Geordie exile(Quote)
Yep, not to be touched with a barge pole indeed. Slimani gets a “flop” status in the press but he contributed really well in every game he played in. I’d rather have him back … but at a super-knocked down price of course.
Julio Laker(Quote)
dito
icedog(Quote)