Daniel Sturridge to Manchester City Makes Sense for Both Parties

Daniel Sturridge - remember him?

The Manchester City academy product burst onto the scene after making his senior debut aged 17, didn't quite find his place at Chelsea and was labelled a 'reject' and then went on to be Luis Suarez's strike partner in Liverpool's title challenge under Brendan Rodgers during the 2013/14 campaign.

Ah, there you go, that Daniel Sturridge!

Sturridge won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2019 / Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Sturridge left Liverpool after six years of faithful service with fans almost hesitant to regard him as a club legend. It isn't disrespectful to claim his name doesn't quite belong in the same bracket as the Anfield glory boys from back in the day. Was he bad? No, his numbers from when he was fit and firing speak for themselves. Sturridge was considered a generational English talent back in the day when he broke through but today, he's a player without a club.

The forward, who spent the 2018/19 season on loan at West Brom, is 31 and reaching the twilight of his career. While Sturridge has done everything in his power to get regular minutes despite a host of injuries hampering his progress, his boyhood club Manchester City have been struggling with issues to their own front men for some time now.

Former City defender Micah Richards, who came up through City's academy alongside him, has spoken at length about the quality and hunger Sturridge still possesses. Speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan, he said: "When he plays football again it might be with another team abroad, but I can't help but think that there are several clubs in the Premier League who are missing a trick by not signing him.

"I would include City in that, just to fill in while Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus are injured. Even if he was half-fit, he would score goals in that side."

City have had to switch and change with injuries troubling their frontmen on various occasions in the last few seasons / Alex Pantling/Getty Images

He has scored 112 goals in 322 games for City, Chelsea, Bolton, Liverpool, West Brom and Trabzonspor, where he played during the 2019/20 campaign. Unfortunately, a fair share of injuries have restricted him from playing his best football in what was supposed to be his prime.

Talking about Sturridge's injury record, Richards added: "The way it has been reported is that he won't play unless he is 100% fit, which is nonsense.

"I guess the difference between him and me was that, whereas I would run through brick walls just to get on the pitch, even if I was 50% fit, he wouldn't do that unless he felt he was ready to do himself justice.

Richards has lept to his former teammate's defence and stated he still has a lot to offer / David M. Benett/Getty Images

"That's what people allude to when they question his commitment, but it's his body. He knows it better than anyone and he's got to take care of it."

It is no secret Manchester City haven't been able to rely on Aguero and Jesus for an entire season yet. They've both faced lengthy spells on the sidelines on several occasions in recent years.

Resorting to slotting the likes of Raheem Sterling up front in crunch games is part of the reason City haven't been able to emulate anywhere near the level of performance that saw them win back-to-back league titles.

As shambolic as their transfer business has been ever since Sir Alex Ferguson bid farewell to Old Trafford, maybe City can take some inspiration from Manchester United, who signed striker Edinson Cavani, 31, on a free transfer from PSG to strengthen their frontline, albeit for different reasons.

Cavani backed his first Premier League goal since his switch from Paris to Manchester in the summer / Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

City need a back-up striker; a reliable source of goals should an unprecedented injury situation present itself in the coming future. Sturridge knows the club, knows what it means to put on the City shirt and with the quality of service at his disposal, it's no question he'd score loads of goals at City should Pep Guardiola bring him in.

But knowing City and what was portrayed succinctly in their 2017/18 Amazon documentary, 'All Or Nothing', they have a profile in mind of the player they're looking to bring in. If it doesn't make sense for City, they have been perfectly comfortable in walking away from such deals in the past, as has been witnessed in the cases of Jorginho, Fred and Virgil van Dijk.

Can the deal happen? Yes, crazier things happen everyday. Is it likely? Well, what do you think?