The world of soccer is a constant machine to generate idols and icons. Every week they appear new “pearls”, “rough diamonds” and “young talents” that capture the attention of fans and club managers. But so easy how the players are raised to an altar, they are condemned to an oblivion from which it is very difficult to get out.
In that situation is Daniel Sturridge, a two-time Champions champion, that at 31 years has no team. The native of Birmingham was one of those teenagers for whom the great clubs of the Premier fought. Raised football in the Aston Villa quarry, was booked by Coventry for end up coming to Manchester City academy at the age of 14.
The attacker was burning stages until debuted with the skyblues first team in the Premier League in February 2007 in a game against Reading when he was only 18 years old. In the 08-09 season, the first under the influence of the Arab Emirates' management, the young player had more opportunities, starting three times in the league, scoring four goals and giving two assists, and three in the Europa League.
The illusion of Stamford Bridge
The Chelsea Abramovich noticed the 20-year-old attacker and decided to pay just over seven million to get their services. In a template with Drogba, Anelka, Lampard, Joe cole, Malouda, Deco or Kalou, He could not count on many opportunities, playing 13 Premier games as a winger, but standing out in the FA Cup in which he played four games scoring four goals and taking the field in the last minute of the final that Ancelotti's Chelsea won.
Carletto He was a very influential coach in his training, despite sharing only two years, and he even said that I was very happy to have Sturridge and that he was doing very well in his assignment in the Bolton, which occurred in the second half of the 2011 season. The Englishman performed very well and scored eight goals in just 14 games, which earned him the placed as a right winger at Stamford Bridge in an attack formed by Drogba and Mata.
With eleven goals in 30 Premier League games and five titles in a Champions League that ended up lifting Chelsea, that year was the one of his explosion and of course, he got the opportunity in the English national team in November 2011 at the age of 22.
Liverpool, Suárez and the slip league
Everything made us think that England was with an attacker for a whole decade, but the following season was a warning of the hell that he was going to have to live. After not being able to count for Rafa Benítez due to an injury, the LIverpool launched for the young man paying 15 million to complete a promising lead with Luis Suarez.
And so much that it was, the 13-14 it was the only season of the decade that Liverpool fans walked proudly before Klopp's arrival. The Reds were just two points behind the City in a league that escaped them after Gerrard's famous slip. The Uruguayan and the English formed an incredible pair that ended with 31 and 21 goals each, being the two top scorers of the competition.
Injury hell
After the signing of Suárez for Barça, Sturridge had to lead the net attack, but the ordeal with injuries began there. First the thigh and then the hip they left him in the dry dock most of the season. The happy hip, knee and a thigh injury hit him in the following campaign in which even so he performed at a good level scoring eight goals in fourteen games Premier and scoring Liverpool's goal in the Europa League final that Sevilla won. Your prize was going to the euro where he ended up being the owner.
With Firmino and Mané already in the team, the injuries gave him a little respite, causing him to lose “only” 10 games. But in the following season, continuing physical problems caused In winter 2018 he will leave on loan to West Brom where did he return to relapse and could only play six matches league. On his return, Klopp's Liverpool already carburated as one of the best teams in Europe and acted as a trigger for a forward that we could all cite by heart, Salah-Firmino-Mané. He raised his second Champions, despite playing only nine minutes in the finals, and ended his contract leaving the team through the back door, haunted by injuries.
In his dismissal Klopp declared that “he had earned being considered one of the greats of modern Liverpool“and defined it as” one of the best finishers I've ever seen. “
From Seville to Turkey and a penalty for betting
Despite having been close to signing with Sevilla a year before, Turkish football – a regular destination of traveling European glories – was the one that ended up welcoming Sturridge. Specifically the Trabzonspor where did he have again injury problems and played only eleven games until sanctioned by the FA Cup for his involvement in sports betting. The player advised his brother to bet on his signing to Sevilla which finally did not take place and UEFA, after an appeal from the FA, punished the footballer with a fine of 83,743 euros and a six-week disqualification. Does it ring a bell? A case very similar to the one live now Kirean Trippier. The team will terminated the contract upon learning of the sanction.
Few options are left for a 31-year-old player when even the turkish way doesn't work. From that moment, Sturridge has been without a team, a player that everyone expected at that age to be giving his last years in the European elite. But in football and in life sometimes it doesn't just come with believing and having the conditions. It takes luck, the one that eluded English, unlike the injuries that accompanied him throughout his career.
In search of a second youth
Sturridge is confident of returning to football and there were multiple rumors pointing to his signing in the winter market. According to information from Daily Mail the playedr interests Championship and MLS teams and it has received big offers from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, but has rejected them as it believes it can still wage war on the elite. There are various Premier League teams that have invited you to train and he is open to the way of earning the position that way.
Being free you can sign at any time and to that burning nail Sturridge clings in search of a second youth. At 31 he resists falling into the well of oblivion and dreams of making a hobby vibrate again, that of the Premier League teams, that not so long ago raised him to the altars.