Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers could face a striker crisis if Daniel Sturridge is out injured for four monthsBy Chris Bascombe 02 Jun 2013
Liverpool are already facing a striker crisis at the start of next season as Daniel Sturridge is unlikely to recover from injury in time for the August kick-off.
Sturridge suffered serious ankle ligament damage in the international friendly with the Republic of Ireland last week, and the diagnosis is not promising.
The 23-year-old has undergone further tests since returning to Merseyside, and Liverpool now expect him to sit out pre-season training and be unavailable for the start of the Premier League campaign.
The worst case scenario is a four-month absence, keeping Sturridge out until late September or early October.
With Luis Suárez likely to have departed English football by the end of the transfer window, it leaves manager Brendan Rodgers with much to ponder over the next three months.
Even if the Uruguayan stays – which few at Anfield believe will happen – he still has six games of his 10-match suspension to serve.
Sturridge had eased the goalscoring burden on Suárez expertly since joining Liverpool from Chelsea for £12 million in January and with Rodgers desperate for a fast start to next season, his absence will be a major setback.
The Liverpool manager must feel his luck is out. He began his first season at Anfield bereft of strike power, but at least on this occasion he has time to bring in reinforcements. The consolation of Suárez’s exit would be a huge transfer kitty as Rodgers would be allowed to reinvest all the funds he generated through sales.
Celta Vigo forward Iago Aspas is heading to Merseyside this week for a medical to complete what is expected to be a €9 million (£7.7 million) move from La Liga.
Liverpool also have Fabio Borini, who returned from injury at the start of last season, and of course Andy Carroll remains at Anfield for the time being.
The England striker, who is also injured, may see the issues surrounding Suárez and Sturridge as a fresh opportunity, although Liverpool would still rather he left for West Ham for the agreed fee of £15 million.
While Rodgers works out how to resolve issues at one end of the park, he also has a contingency plan in goal should Pepe Reina be lured to Barcelona.
Victor Valdés announced he was planning to stay for one more year at the Nou Camp, but Liverpool are taking nothing for granted as the transfer window generates its usual daily twists and turns as players position themselves to leave their clubs on good terms.
Reina would be allowed to leave amicably for £10 million. if he did, Liverpool would bid for Sunderland’s Simon Mignolet.
Rodgers has a list of potential goalkeeping recruits, but the Belgian is the outstanding candidate, particularly given his youthfulness.
Mignolet, part of a brilliant Belgian international team, is 24 and Liverpool hope a bid of around £6 million would secure an Anfield deal.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/10094445/Liverpool-manager-Brendan-Rodgers-could-face-a-striker-crisis-if-Daniel-Sturridge-is-out-injured-for-four-months.htmlWhilst I would prefer us to be self sufficient, it's exactly this sort of situation where you want owners to have both the financial strength and readiness to help the manager out.
If Suarez goes then we need to replace him in the same way irrespective of Sturridge's injury, but then have the means to buy a player in Sturridge's class to replace him for how ever long it takes him to both recover, do his pre-season and then get up to match fitness and sharpness. Given all that, we're unlikely to see a fully ready Sturridge until the end of the year so we need his replacement for half a season at least.
Then as Sturridge returns it would mean we have one striker too many but it's up to Sturridge, Sturridge's replacement and Borini to fight it out to avoid being the odd man out come the end of the season and avoid being moved on. FSG need to understand this, understand the importance and step up to the financial plate.
As for Mignolet, I think he has the ability to go on and become for us what Pepe has been for us, but I can't see us getting him for a lot, if any less than what we get for Pepe, if he does decide to move.
Ideally, with the defence going through a major upheaval, if possible, it would be prudent to try our best to keep Pepe for one more season at least. That would give us time to look for the next Pepe, Mignolet or Begovic etc and bring them in for the sort of fee Stoke and Sunderland paid for their players. That's the only way we could replace Pepe and have anything spare from the fee we receive for him.