Earlier in the week Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp remained coy over the possibility of bringing in some fresh faces when the transfer window re-opens in January, but the Reds manager pulled no punches when asked about Daniel Sturridge and whether or not he’ll be dipping into the market in an attempt to find even more cover for the perpetually injured hit-man.
“We have Christian Benteke, Divock Origi and Roberto Firmino. Of course, we also have Ingsy but he’s not available at the moment. It’s a situation I can work with,” explained the German manager when asked about the Reds striker situation. “If you take a new player, a striker, who can help you immediately, when the day comes and Daniel is back in the race and maybe better than before – more confident and fitter than before – then we will sit here and talk about all the problems we have with all of these players and how they didn’t play and so on,” he said with a smile. “I am not like this, sorry!”
Making an immediate impact in his first start since Klopp took charge of the Anfield outfit, Sturridge went on to score a brace in the 6-1 demolition of Southampton in the League Cup quarter-final with two finishes that could only be described as world class. Unfortunately, you can’t use that particular phrase to describe his resilience and after making a cameo appearance in the defeat to Newcastle United on Sunday, he pulled up with a hamstring injury that is expected to have him sidelined until early in the New Year.
“We have to train with him and make sessions with him as soon as he’s prepared for them. At this moment, he trains aerobically and it’s very important to give him a better base than he had before and that he can work on this,” said Klopp, trying to explain just what Liverpool’s back room staff are going to do to try to put an end to his niggling injuries. “I said before Southampton with the last injury, that is the history and the situation with players who have been injured for a long time,” continued Klopp. “We have to train, that’s all, and to give him more resistance for the intensity of football. That’s what we’ll do together with him.”
