Rumour Mongering: Sturridge Linked with Stoke City and West Ham

Six months ago, Liverpool fans were asking whether Daniel Sturridge could be counted on to stay fit for any longer than a game at a go. Now, the striker has seemingly moved past the worst of his injury troubles. Yet he’s hardly seeing more action than when he was spending half his time on the trainer’s table.

This has led to a whole other kind of hand-wringing. When Sturridge wasn’t fit, everyone was concerned that the team seemed so reliant on its injured striker. Now he’s fit but the team are no longer reliant on him, and rumours linking him with a move away as a result have never been far below the surface.

They’ve broken through again this week, with mongers in Italy and England bouncing rumours back and forth across Europe linking Sturridge to West Ham, Stoke City, and Sunderland. Liverpool, for their part, aren’t said to be interested in moving him on. And as yet, there is no suggestion Sturridge wants a move.

For now, these are rumours of the other clubs are interested variety. Of the listed clubs, it’s hard to imagine Sturridge having his head turned by Sunderland. Depending on their table position in January, and depending on the minutes he’s getting at Liverpool by then, Stoke City or West Ham might tempt.

Might, though, remains the key word, and it’s almost impossible to overstate just how speculative this latest round of Sturridge rumour mongering is. Or to overstate just how flimsy any rumour being pushed by the combined, dubious weight of English fish-wrap tabloids and the Italian football press is.

It’s also difficult to imagine Liverpool, who hardly need the money or to balance their wage books, suddenly deciding they need to sell. Still, it’s a rumour—or set of rumours, really—out in the wild now. And if Sturridge can remain fit but isn’t a regular starter, you can expect this sort of thing to continue.