Liverpool will be currently preparing for the Champions League final which takes place in Madrid on June 1.
Former Premier League player Jonathan Walters has questioned the future of Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge and his desire to play through injuries.
The former Stoke City and Burnley man stated that he’s been told that Sturridge is the type of player that would make himself ‘available’ for games he could ‘potentially do a lot better in’.
During his career, Sturridge has played for Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and even last season relegated West Brom where he had a disastrous few months.
Nonetheless, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live (21/05/2019 at 8:00 pm), Walters made a stunning claim about Sturridge and his future at Anfield.
“Whether Liverpool want to keep him on a low wage,” Walters told BBC Radio 5 Live. “I think he needs to go and play. Whether he has the desire to play. He went off to West Brom [last season] didn’t really play and then got injured.
“Then didn’t sort of play until the end of the season. It is that sort of question, how much does he want it? There are question marks asked of Sturridge over the years about manager saying, ‘it’s a little niggle’ and then he’s missing a game, but then he’s training the week after.
On Klopp saying Sturridge needs to learn what real pain is: “I think it speaks volumes,” Walters added. “If your manager is saying that and someone like Klopp who doesn’t really come out and say anything like that.
“But you hear off players. We had certain players who played with him and they would say ‘he won’t be fit for the weekend’. This is what I’ve heard. And whatever those players said, it was always right. But there was a reason why they were saying it as well. Then he was available for games that potentially he’d do a lot better in – I’m just saying what players have told me about him.”
In previous years gone by, Klopp has openly stated that Sturridge, who has played a bit-part role again this season, must learn to manage and play through pain, as quoted by BBC Sport.
When Brendan Rodgers was Liverpool manager, and Luis Suarez was also at the club, Sturridge thrived on Merseyside by producing some of the best performances of his career.
However, for a number of years now, injuries, a lack of game time and form has resulted in his career going the other way as he will be hoping to rediscover his form in the near future.
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