Manchester City have been linked with bringing back Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea. Is he an upgrade from Balotelli?
The Manchester Evening News reports today that Manchester City are to launch a summer bid to bring Daniel Sturridge back to Eastlands.
Sturridge started off as a teenager in City colours but was allowed to leave to sign with Chelsea after finding opportunities limited.
At Chelsea he has flourished- after a loan spell at Bolton last year- but has grown increasingly frustrated with being played on the wing rather than as an out and out striker.
Rather than seeing it as part of his progression, the striker is believed to be willing to take the impatient approach and jump ship, with Arsenal also linked with his signature.
In recent months he has also disappointed Chelsea fans, scoring just one league goal in 2012, particularly wasteful in Villas-Boas final game in defeat at West Brom.
He has gone from an early Chelsea player of the season candidate to a forward seen as selfish and unwilling to pass at the right time, to the detriment of the team overall, which is more than likely a symptom of his frustration and determination to make an impact.
Roberto Mancini is clearly a fan, describing City’s decision to allow him to leave the club as a mistake.
If City were to bring him back in, it could be a good move all round, especially if Sturridge wants to move on from Stamford Bridge.
What the young Englishman would want though is guarantees over playing up front, but would likely have to endure a rotation policy with an array of talented strikers on the books at the Etihad, including the returning John Guidetti.
Whether this will make the deal less likely to go ahead is another matter, which sort of depends which strikers City hang onto- with Tevez, Aguero, Baloteli and Dzeko all been rumoured to be on their way out at some stage, despite denials.
Mario Balotelli remains the most likely player to leave the club at this stage, after his madcap performance against Arsenal was seen as a self-indulgence too far by Mancini, vowing he would never play him again- although as Tevez’ return has left his threats looking rather hollow.
A good question to ask when assessing the likelihood of Sturridge arriving at City, is whether he would be an upgrade from Balotelli?
We feel that as an overall package, Sturridge is better suited to City than Balotelli.
On an individual basis many observers may feel Balotelli is more naturally gifted, he is an accident waiting to happen- as he has proved on many occasions.
Sturridge on the other hand is not the ‘walking red card’ Balotelli is, and may fit in with the rest of the dressing room far better.
Balotelli has been seen as a distracting and troublesome influence in the City dressing room, which is not what the club need when they reach such an important and tense stage of the season.
Both are young, and have huge careers ahead of them, and have a knack of scoring goals regularly.
Despite his recent drought, and playing out wide, Sturridge has scored 11 times this season. This suffers in comparison to Balotelli’s 17.
We do feel though that the time is right for City to look at moving Balotelli on and making him another club’s problem, and Sturridge would be a perfectly suitable replacement.
Who would you rather at City next season? Sturridge or Balotelli?
image: © Ben Sutherland
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