The Story So Far-
England and Liverpool forward Daniel Sturridge has refused to accept a lucrative move to Beijing Guaon in the Chinese Super League. And with the Chinese transfer day closing on Friday, Beijing manager Roger Schmidt hoped to land the marquee striker.
Daniel Sturridge has been around the Premier League for quite some time now and still at just 27, he probably has his best years to come soon.
Sturridge joined Manchester City in 2006, but couldn’t break into the first team on a regular basis, managing to score only 5 goals in 21 appearances over the course of three seasons.
He then was recruited by Chelsea but the Blues loaned him off for the second half of the season where he put on impressive displays when he joined Bolton Wanderers.
The fast and cunning front-man then moved to Liverpool in 2013, where he became an instant hit under manager at the time, Brendan Rodgers, scoring goals for fun. But it didn’t all click for Sturridge as his progress was constantly short-coming by injuries at regular and crucial intervals.
There was absolutely no doubt about the quality and skill of the player, but when Jurgen Klopp was brought in charge at Liverpool, Sturridge found it hard to keep up with the intense training and was mostly out injured having lost his place in the first-team to Roberto Firmino.
However, after rejecting a mouth-watering deal from the Chinese side, which would have seen Sturridge’s pay check rise to substantial amounts, it seems he is still willing to fight for his place at Liverpool.
A move to China would have been stunning for Schmidt’s side, but Sturridge was not one to be tempted, as he still has some unfinished business at the European level with the Merseyside club.
Deal or no deal?
Well, there is no doubt that Sturridge has major fitness issues and does not manage those quite well. In fact, the player has barely lasted an entire major tournament in recent times, whether it is for the club or at the international level.
This might urge the manager and the board to let him leave and try to cash in on him, as soon as possible.
However, from the point of view of the player, now with a move to China out of the equation, it seems that he will have to look for other possible alternatives and choose the best one out of them.
The main reason he would have not wanted to leave the European continent was the fact that it might have hampered his progress in the national side and he might have been probably dropped in the days to come.
Whether it is the best in the business or not, the Premier League is still the most watched league in the world and unless that changes any English player, in fact most other players too will want to play in it.
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