A month ago, Daniel Sturridge was certain to depart Liverpool in the summer. Now, that’s not so clear. He still has two years left on his contract and the club have no plans to sign a big name striker this summer—unlikely links to Monaco’s Kylian Mbappe aside—and, if he’s willing to accept he won’t be a guaranteed starter, it has begun to appear at least possible that he could stay.
It’s still far from certain that he will, but for many Liverpool fans, that would be the preferred outcome. And for anyone who would prefer that outcome, today’s news, based on multiple reports from London papers, that West Ham have given up their as-yet informal pursuit of Sturridge and decided to move on to other more achievable targets will be seen as at least a minor boost.
West Ham, as the story now goes, have given up on Sturridge and moved on to Inter Milan’s out of favour 30-year-old striker Eder. But that may not mean Sturridge is safe at Liverpool—it may just mean that, due to cost or table position or other needs and the reality of their transfer budget, West Ham simply don’t see him as a reasonable target the can be brought in for a price they can afford.
When asked about Sturridge’s future while on their post-season tour of Australia, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp remained noncommittal, suggesting that to take a stance on the striker’s future would only bring unnecessary headlines at a time when his future may not be entirely certain, a stance that despite Klopp’s desire to avoid headlines and speculation is only likely to lead to more.
Meanwhile, Sturridge has been ruled out of any involvement with England for their games against Scotland and France next month following the revelation that he played in Wednesday’s Sydney friendly while carrying a knock that required him to take pain-killing injections ahead of the match.