Players - Daniel Sturridge

Daniel Sturridge
Birthdate: 1 September 1989
Birthplace: Birmingham, England
Other clubs: Manchester City (2003-09), Bolton Wanderers (loan 2011), Chelsea (2009-13), WBA (loan 2018), Trabzonspor (2019-20) Perth Glory (2021-22)
Signed from: Chelsea
Signed for LFC: £12m, 02.01.2013
International debut: 15.11.2011 vs. Sweden
International caps: 26/8 (22/8 at LFC) - 08.10.2017
Liverpool debut: 06.01.2013
Last appearance: 07.05.2019
Debut goal: 06.01.2013
Last goal: 29.09.2018
Contract expiry: 01.07.2019
Win ratio: 56.88% W:91 D:38 L:31
Games/goals ratio: 2.39
Games/assists ratio: 8
Honours: Champions League 2019
Total games/goals opposite LFC: 4 / 1
League games / goals / assists: 116 / 50 / 15
Total games / goals / assists: 160 / 67 / 20

Player Profile

With Liverpool’s lack of strikers to support Luis Suarez coming under intense scrutiny during the first half of the 2012-13 season, the name of Daniel Sturridge kept resurfacing as a new transfer-window got closer. It was not, therefore, a major surprise when on the first working day after the New Year, Liverpool F.C. confirmed that the 23-year-old forward had signed a long-term deal to become a permanent addition to the squad of manager Brendan Rodgers. With Fabio Borini having had a long spell out with a foot injury and Andy Carroll on a season-long loan at West Ham United, the urgency of the situation had not been lost on the club’s manager or its managing director, Ian Ayre. Having been thwarted in an attempt to sign an adequate replacement or foil for Suarez in the summer, it was clear that the same mistake could not be made twice. Ayre commented after securing Sturridge’s signature on a contract: “It was important to us that we did all of the work ahead of the transfer window in talking to Chelsea and the player and his representatives. We made sure we did that so we could hit the ground running in January - and here we are today on the second and we're all done and dusted.” 

Sturridge was born in the Midlands and played at youth level for both Aston Villa and Coventry City before heading north to join Manchester City’s Academy in 2003. Three years later, still only 16-years-old, his goals helped City reach the FA Youth Cup final where his brace gave the Blues hope in the second leg as they tried to claw back a three-goal deficit from the first leg at Anfield. Although Liverpool’s youngsters took the trophy home with them after a 3-2 aggregate victory, Sturridge had announced himself as someone to be watched. However, his opportunities for playing in City’s first team were limited and shortly before his twentieth birthday he signed a four-year deal with Chelsea. The Londoners won the Premier League title at the end of his first full season at Stamford Bridge but, as in Manchester, his contribution was not massive, just one goal from thirteen League matches, but he was much more prominent in the FA Cup that season, netting four times and coming on as a very late substitute at Wembley in the final as Chelsea beat Portsmouth to add the domestic cup to their Premier League crown.

Halfway through the following season, Sturridge had a very successful loan spell at Bolton Wanderers. Eight goals from twelve appearances was a very creditable goals-per-game ratio. But it still wasn’t enough to get him a regular starting spot in the Chelsea team when he returned to London under new manager Andre Villas-Boas, who had replaced Carlo Ancelotti that summer. As in 2009/10 Chelsea had a strong finish to their season and the young striker was an unused substitute in both the FA Cup final and the Champions League final. But he did score eleven League goals, including an equaliser at Stamford Bridge against the club who would eventually sign him from Chelsea. 

With Olympic mania sweeping through Great Britain in 2012, Daniel Sturridge was named in the mens’ squad to represent the host nation. It initially looked as if illness would keep him out of the tournament. But he was fit enough to make the team and score the winning goal against Uruguay as the British team finished top of its group. At the quarter-final stage, however, Great Britain were eliminated by South Korea on penalties after a drawn match. Although Sturridge missed his penalty-kick in the shoot-out, it is unlikely to cause him as much lasting anguish as another important penalty that was missed by his team manager, Stuart Pearce, over twenty years earlier.

Sturridge only appeared in seven League matches for Chelsea in the first half of the 2012/13 season as increasing speculation linked him with a move back to a north-west club. Then, almost as soon as the transfer-window opened, that move happened. The player’s instant reaction was that he was thrilled to have signed for “one of the biggest clubs in the world”. Although he had a few recent injury worries behind him, he seemed genuinely excited to be “part of something new and something special," the words he described the way the club was progressing under its new manager, Brendan Rodgers.  Sturridge was an instant success, scoring in each of his first three appearances, something no Liverpool player had done since Ray Kennedy in 1974. Ten Premier League goals plus one in the FA Cup was a more than satisfactory return from the sixteen matches he appeared in between January and May. In the penultimate match of the season at Fulham he scored a superb hat-trick for a team that was by then without the services of Luis Suarez due to suspension for biting Chelsea's Ivanovic.

Sturridge flourished as Luis Suarez completed his ten-game ban at the start of the 2013/14 season, six goals in six matches proving that he was quite capable of taking on the responsibility of scoring the goals. But once the Uruguayan returned they proved to be a sensational double-act as well. Sturridge scored Liverpool's first and last Premier League goals of the season and added a further twenty-two in-between (19 league plus 3 in the domestic cups) to take his total since arriving to a very impressive 35 in 49 matches, a strike-rate that was easily good enough to ensure that he was included in Roy Hodgson's England squad for the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil. Sturridge quickly equalised Italy's first goal in the opening group match but was replaced by Adam Lallana with ten minutes left as England again chased an equaliser after Mario Balotelli had restored Italy's lead. The striker made another start against Uruguay four days later and also played throughout the final group match against Costa Rica.

Sturridge's 2014/15 season was badly disrupted by injuries that saw him restricted to only twelve Premier League matches plus six cup-ties. Although he scored the winning goal in the opening league match against Southampton only four more goals followed as successive thigh injuries ruled him out for long periods. His final appearance of the season came early in April in a cup replay at Blackburn Rovers. A month later he was travelling to America for surgery on a hip problem that had caused him to miss so many matches. Already struggling without the goals of Luis Suarez also losing Sturridge's contribution as a goalscorer for most of the season was something nobody could have anticipated and unsurprisingly the number of goals scored was significantly down from the previous year.
Although the surgery was a success, the rehabilitation period means that he was not expected to see action again until at least September 2015. he did so but was injured after just a few games and was used cautiously by Jürgen Klopp after his appointment in October. The German put him through an extensive pre-season style fitness programme and he was a key player in the Europa League, scoring a stunning opening goal in the final against Sevilla. Despite all his difficulties he finished the season with thirteen goals in 24 games but after appearing to be over everything, injured his hip the week before 2016/17 was due to begin, meaning he missed the opening game at Arsenal. He was fit by the end of August but started only nine games and 2017/18 was also frustrating as Klopp preferred other attacking options. In the first half of the season he appeared nine times in the league, completing the ninety minutes just once. In the Champions League, he made five group stage appearances, each as a second half substitute. Due to these limited opportunities Sturridge was loaned out to West Bromwich Albion in January 2018, but his spell there was a huge disappointment, again plagued by injury. He started just two league games and came off the bench four times, failing to score as Albion were relegated.

For pre-season 2018 Sturridge had an opportunity due to other players returning late from World Cup duty. After impressing Jrgen Klopp told journalists at the end of July that Sturridge would have a role to play in 2018/19 if he stayed fit and even suggested that he may have an individual training programme tailored for him. On the opening day of the season, he scored within a minute of coming on as a late substitute against West Ham. He then scored on his first start, heading the opening goal against Paris Saint Germain in the first group stage game of the Champions League. However despite maintaining his fitness for the season, opportunities were limited and in the second half of the season Divock Origi was preferred as the back up striker to Mane, Firmino or Salah. 20 of his 27 appearances were from the bench and it was confirmed on 4th June 2019 that he would be leaving the club when his deal expired at the end of the month. 

Sturridge received a two week ban from football in July 2019 after being found guilty of breaching betting rules. On 21 August that year, he agreed a three year deal with Turkish side Trabzonspor. When the ban was increased to four months after an appeal by the FA that it was unduly lenient, Sturridge and Trabzonspor terminated the deal by mutual consent. In a video posted on his YouTube account at the beginning of March 2020, he said he felt uncomfortable taking wages from a club to whom he could not contribute. His time there had again been disrupted by injuries, with his thigh, toe, Achilles tendon and calf all posing him problems. Sturridge was without a club for almost two years until he signed for Perth Glory In Australia in September 2021. His goalless spell there though was hampered by a groin injury and five of his six appearances were as a substitute, with his first start seeing him replaced at half time. 
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 116 13 9 22 0 160
2012-2013 14 2 0 0 0 16
2013-2014 29 2 2 0 0 33
2014-2015 12 4 0 2 0 18
2015-2016 14 1 2 8 0 25
2016-2017 20 3 4 0 0 27
2017-2018 9 0 0 5 0 14
2018-2019 18 1 1 7 0 27
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
11 719 Southampton
10 664 Manchester United
9 528 Tottenham
8 560 Swansea City
8 558 Newcastle United
8 356 Everton
7 402 Manchester City
7 383 Chelsea
6 377 Arsenal
6 322 West Ham United
5 332 Burnley
5 313 Crystal Palace
5 247 Stoke City
4 331 Aston Villa
4 256 Fulham
3 246 Sunderland
3 236 Huddersfield Town
3 189 WBA
3 180 Bournemouth
3 109 Leicester City
2 196 Besiktas
2 175 Blackburn Rovers
2 132 Norwich City
2 132 Augsburg
2 104 Plymouth Argyle
2 97 Sevilla
2 95 Wolves
2 91 Paris St Germain
2 63 Red Star Belgrade
2 45 Hull City
2 39 Spartak Moscow
2 38 NK Maribor
2 34 Borussia Dortmund
2 26 Watford
1 120 Notts County
1 90 Villarreal
1 90 Reading
1 90 QPR
1 90 Cardiff City
1 90 Oldham Athletic
1 82 Middlesbrough
1 55 Mansfield Town
1 26 Burton Albion
1 20 Bolton Wanderers
1 10 Brighton & Hove Albion
1 8 Porto
1 2 Napoli
1 0 Barcelona
Total Started/substitutions
98 Started
42 On the bench
62 Substitute
52 Substituted
Total Venue
80 Away
80 Home
Total Competition
116 Premier League
13 FA Cup
12 Champions League
10 Europa League
9 League Cup
Total W D L Win % Manager
90 49 22 19 54.4% Jürgen Klopp
70 42 16 12 60% Brendan Rodgers
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 50 3 9 5 0 67
2012-2013 10 1 0 0 0 11
2013-2014 21 1 2 0 0 24
2014-2015 4 1 0 0 0 5
2015-2016 8 0 2 3 0 13
2016-2017 3 0 4 0 0 7
2017-2018 2 0 0 1 0 3
2018-2019 2 0 1 1 0 4
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Assists per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 15 1 0 4 0 20
2012-2013 3 0 0 0 0 3
2013-2014 7 0 0 0 0 7
2014-2015 1 0 0 0 0 1
2015-2016 1 0 0 1 0 2
2016-2017 1 1 0 0 0 2
2017-2018 1 0 0 2 0 3
2018-2019 1 0 0 1 0 2
A more detailed look at the player's assists
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 06.01.2013 Mansfield Town Field Mill FA Cup
50 17.08.2014 Southampton Anfield League
100 17.10.2016 Manchester United Anfield League
150 03.01.2019 Manchester City Etihad Stadium League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 7 06.01.2013 Mansfield Town Field Mill FA Cup
50 61 20.04.2016 Everton Anfield League
Related Articles
Daniel Sturridge hits stunning late equaliser

I watch videos of my goals for inspiration

22 March, 2014 by James Pearce for the Liverpool Echo.

SAS are on fire for Liverpool but are Suarez and Sturridge really perfect partners?

By SAM CUNNINGHAM published 27 March 2014 in the Daily Mail.

Daniel Sturridge can't return to Tesco

Published by James Pearce in the Liverpool Echo on 25 November 2013.

There's a myth about me being arrogant... but I'm just a happy guy

By Daily Mail's MATT LAWTON on 13 March 2014.

People just didn't believe in me at Chelsea - I wasn't myself

4 February, 2014 - based on his interview with the Anfield Wrap.

Liverpool's Suárez-Sturridge attack rivals class of '88

John Barnes rates the SAS duo in the Guardian on 31 October 2013.

How does Sturridge compare with Liverpool's best?

In Daniel Sturridge's first 25 games for Liverpool there has not been a more prolific striker at that juncture since 1914. But who is on top of that list? Revealed! - the 15 most prolific strikers after playing a quarter of a century of games for the Reds.

Daniel Sturridge has made it across the Bridge at Liverpool

Written by Jonathan Wilson on 26 August 2013 for thenational.ae.

Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Manchester City 2006-2007 Premier League 2 0 2 0
Manchester City 2007-2008 Premier League 3 1 4 2
Manchester City 2008-2009 Premier League 16 4 26 4
Chelsea 2009-2010 Premier League 13 1 20 5
Chelsea 2010-2011 Premier League 13 0 21 4
Bolton Wanderers 2010-2011 Premier League 12 8 12 8
Chelsea 2011-2012 Premier League 30 11 43 13
Chelsea 2012-2013 Premier League 7 1 12 2
WBA 2017-2018 Premier League 6 0 6 0
Trabzonspor 2019-2020 Turkey 1 11 4 16 7
Perth Glory 2021-2022 Australia 1 6 0 6 0
Total 119 30 168 45