Will Liverpool ever get another striker? After operating with only one for nearly half a season, it seems the board will finally make life a bit easier for Brendan Rodgers by making a move for a forward in the January transfer window, most likely Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea.
The 23 year old striker, who can also play as a winger, has hardly featured for Chelsea since Andre Villas-Boas was fired in the middle of last season. Ever since, he has become a bench player to come on for a few minutes late in the match or simply stare down the pitch for the whole 90 minutes. A hamstring injury also limited his chances this season with the club, but with Rafa Benitez as well, he doesn’t seem to be in anyone’s plans.
Liverpool were hoping to sign him during the summer, but a high transfer fee prevented Rodgers from pursuing the England international, who made his debut 12 months ago, since then appearing three more times and also five times in the Olympic games for Great Britain. He scored 11 goals in 30 league matches last season, and throughout his career has shown that when he gets the chances to play and hold on to a starting role, the goals will come.
Some say that the man Rodgers wanted all along for his team was Theo Walcott, but Arsenal seem to be reluctant to sell him, despite still not managing to agree on a new contract with the player, who becomes a free man once this season ends. Maybe things will change in the next couple of weeks for both club and player, but at the moment, it looks like Sturridge is the one Liverpool are going after to give them the boost they need in the second half of the season. His price will probably be somewhere around £12 million.
Liverpool are also looking to bring back Tom Ince (son of Paul Ince) from Blackpool. The 20 year old winger, part of the U-21 setup for England, left Liverpool in 2011 but his form this season (13 goals in 19 matches) seems to be causing a few regrets among those who let him go. This time, he’ll probably be costing £6 million to bring over, but Liverpool do have a 35% sell-on clause that was secured on the terms of his departure to Bloomfield Road, so his price should be a bit lower than what Blackpool rate him for. He never played for the Liverpool senior while being a part of the Anfield setup.