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Daniel Sturridge is perpetually injured. It's challenging to say otherwise this season: sustaining not one but two thigh injuries kept him out for the first half of the season, Sturridge has picked up an injury to his hip on international duty and was sent home early from the England camp. The extent of the injury is still being assessed, but what little information England manager Roy Hodgson did provide does not paint a very rosy picture.
"I’m a little bit disappointed for Daniel Sturridge, because when he came to us he didn’t really feel that the slight problem he felt was really any problem at all," said the ex-Malmo man. "When we did the scan and it turned out that there was a problem he was absolutely devastated because he didn’t want to leave us. There was no option because he has a slight tear and you can’t play through that."
No, Roy, you cannot. Unlike Roy, Liverpool fans will be a lot disappointed with this newest development, with several outlets reporting that Sturridge could be out for up to a month. Sturridge only returned, gingerly at that, at the end of January, and missing a further month of matches — essentially the entire month of April — effectively ends his season given his tendency to take longer to return to full fitness than initial timelines usually indicate.
Liverpool's investigation into what causes Sturridge's myriad leg injuries evidently still hasn't borne any kind of satisfactory answer, but this latest setback may be the impetus needed for Liverpool to do something about their striker situation. (For real this time.) Liverpool were never going to replace Luis Suarez's goals this year, but they certainly didn't count on needing to replace Daniel Sturridge's as well. With Sturridge's injury history being what it is, more than ever it's becoming apparent that the club need to find a full time striker this summer.
