Should Chelsea return for Liverpool’s Sturridge to solve striker crisis?

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Chelsea want a new striker and have been linked with Roma’s Edin Dzeko, but should they consider re-signing Daniel Sturridge from Liverpool?

AS Roma forward Edin Dzeko (C) scores a goal later to be found invalid during the Italian Serie A football match against Sassuolo.

Chelsea’s search for a new striker continues, with the Telegraph reporting that Roma’s Edin Dzeko could be joining the club in a joint deal with teammate Emerson Palmieri.

However, there are concerns from the Blues about Dzeko’s age, with the Bosnia and Herzegovina international turning 32 in March. It has previously been a policy at Stamford Bridge not to pay fees for players over the age of 30.

Antonio Conte, manager of Chelsea, looks on prior to the Premier League match against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Manager Antonio Conte wants a new forward to complement and provide competition for record signing Alvaro Morata, who has struggled for form in recent times.

ESPN reports that targets varying from West Ham United duo Marko Arnautovic and Andy Carroll, Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke and even Peter Crouch of Stoke City have been shortlisted as a result.

Yet just as with David Luiz and Nemanja Matic in the past, should the West Londoners consider a former player to fill the role and one who is strongly linked with a move during the January transfer window in Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge?

Daniel Sturridge of Liverpool scores his side’s third goal during the UEFA Champions League group E match against NK Maribor.

The reigning Premier League champions have been criticised in the past for allowing the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Mohamed Salah to leave the club, but are not averse to bringing players back – as shown by Luiz and Matic, who joined Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica respectively before being re-signed.

Sturridge spent three-and-a-half years with Chelsea before leaving for Anfield in January 2013 and while has struggled for regular game time this season, still has an impressive scoring record in the English top tier of 75 goals in 194 appearances.

If Conte is interested the Italian will have to act quickly, though, with the BBC reporting Inter Milan having made an approach to sign the England international on loan.