Liverpool Would Reportedly Accept Deferred Payment in Sturridge Deal

Daniel Sturridge will not be loaned. This, coming on the heels of news earlier in the day that Liverpool had rejected a Sevilla bid to do just that while paying his wages for the remainder of the season, is hardly a surprise. It does, however, come with a small caveat.

At least according to Italy’s Sport Mediaset, who have been keeping an eye on Inter Milan’s supposed interest, Liverpool would be willing to defer any payment for the striker until the summer by structuring a loan-to-buy deal where the buy was a guaranteed commitment.

It might not seem to make much of a difference, and for many clubs it might not, but it would allow a side that wanted to purchase Sturridge but didn’t feel they could buy without selling to use the striker for the rest of the season before worrying about that.

Or: it would allow a club to keep both Sturridge and whatever player would eventually be sold to pay for Sturridge to play together for the remainder of the season. So far, though, according to the Italian report the only interest Liverpool have had is for a short-term loan.

That, clearly, isn’t something Liverpool want to do, and it will be interesting to see if the club’s persistence—their desire to sell the striker for around £30M pays off or if we get to deadline day and they perhaps accept a loan. This appears to be what Inter are hoping for.

Liverpool, though, don’t need to clear wages, and would likely value keeping Sturridge around as an emergency depth option for the remainder of the 2017-18 campaign if that’s the alternative. Which could mean Inter are out of luck. Unless, of course, they’re the ones who give in.

With less than two weeks to go in the window, it shouldn’t take long now to find out which way this story goes. Hopefully, for Sturridge’s sake, a club can be found that is willing to do what it takes to get a deal done and give him a chance to revive his career.