Daniel Sturridge

Liverpool centre forward, Daniel Sturridge, is set to be a key player in the English squad set to battle for the Euro 2016 title this summer, though his place in the first team is currently in the balance.

The 26-year old striker has hit form again and currently has eight goals to his name this season in the Premier League, two in the Europa League, where they play Sevilla in the final, and another two in the League Cup that they lost to current fourth-placed Manchester City in the Final.

Liverpool captain James Milner says that he expects his club teammate Daniel Sturridge to come back strongly when he appears for the England national team after almost 600 days of absence due to injury.

The assumption is that the long time on the sidelines will have taken away some of the edge from his game, but Milner has backed his club teammate to start scoring straightaway. Sturridge is expected to be back for the friendly against Netherlands. He was unavailable for the 3-2 win against Germany, which once again provided another striking option for manager Roy Hodgson.

2015/2016 has been a season ravaged by injuries for Daniel Sturridge, but the Liverpool striker has received a major boost in his quest to return to full fitness and match sharpness by being called up by Roy Hodgson for England’s upcoming friendlies against Germany and the Netherlands.

Hodgson has been a long admirer of Sturridge, with the 26-year-old playing a prominent role in England’s qualification for the 2014 World Cup and usually performing well for the national team when called upon.

Recent transfer rumours appeared to suggest that Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge was unhappy at the Merseyside outfit.

He has struggled with numerous injury problems in the last two years. After establishing himself as a prolific goal scorer within 12 months after his arrival from Chelsea, Sturridge has found it difficult to keep the momentum going due to regular injury problems. He has managed just 18 league appearances since the start of the 2014-15 season. Even then, his return of seven goals in these matches into that he has not lost none of his potency in front of goal.

If rumours are to be believed, Daniel Sturridge will be making a move away from Liverpool during this summer as the player is struggling with injuries in Anfield and the Englishman is fed up with all of the criticism that he has been receiving from Liverpool fans.

However, there seems to be a contradiction going on involving Daniel Sturridge leaving Liverpool or staying with the Premier League beyond the summer.

There is no denying that Sturridge is a player who is consistently getting injured and no manager in the world of football wants to have a player that is unavailable to play for a long period of time.

Christian Benteke has come under fire over the last couple of weeks due to poor performances since joining Liverpool in the summer.

The former Aston Villa hitman developed a fearsome reputation for scoring regularly when he was at Villa Park. However, he has struggled to find the coherence needed to score in an attacking team like Liverpool.

Many initially questioned the desire of Liverpool to sign a player like Benteke, who was more suited towards a physical team rather than a team looking to play the ball on the ground. However, former manager Brendan Rodgers went ahead with the signing.

A return of seven goals in 22 appearances does sound mediocre for a player who has cost club more than £30 million.

Questions over the ability of Daniel Sturridge continuously lead the Liverpool team have been put under serious consideration after the latest hamstring injury to the striker.

Sturridge has been hit by numerous injuries in the last two years and this has reduced to under 30 appearances during this period. It has also meant that Liverpool have nowhere been near enough to their target of qualifying for the top four or even challenging for the title. They are undoubtedly aware of the quality possessed by the former Chelsea striker, but his injury record is proving to be a major source of frustration.

Lucas Leiva says Liverpool FC is not thinking about the Premier League title in spite of being in the best of form at this stage.

Liverpool has recently secured two mammoth wins at the Stamford Bridge and the Etihad Stadium and it has given a huge boost to their chances in the English top flight.

But, according to Leiva, the Reds are work in progress at this point of time and they are taking each match as it comes.

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo were the 3 finalists of picking up the UEFA Best Player in Europe award and the winner was selected on August 27 which resulted with the Barcelona star player picking up the award for a 2nd time as he became the first player in the history of the sport to reach this milestone.

Messi won the award back in 2011 and collected it once again a few days ago. Luis Suarez reached the shortlist of 3 players along with Cristiano Ronaldo but it was an overwhelming win for Lionel Messi as he received 49 of the 54 votes.

Daniel Sturridge has had a stop start career in the last couple of years and there appears to be no respite immediately after he has been ruled out yet again with a slight knock.

Sturridge started playing for new manager Jurgen Klopp only recently and he has already gone into the sidelines following a knock in training. The new manager has claimed that he does not know when the striker would be able to resume first-team football once again. This comes as a major disappointment for Liverpool fans, who had played a lot of faith in the 26-year-old striker.