Former Premier League striker Jon Walters has claimed that there are question marks over Liverpool attacker Daniel Sturridge.
There were hopes that the England international was on the brink of a career revival during the early stages of the season, but his form soon tailed off. Walters isn’t convinced by the Reds star.
“Whether he has that desire to play… He went off to West Brom, didn’t really play, got injured, didn’t really play towards the end of the season,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “It’s that question: how much does he want it? And there’s question marks [that have] been asked about Daniel Sturridge over the years.
“It’s all gossip, more than anything, but you hear off players – and we had certain players that played with him and would say ‘he won’t be fit at the weekend’. This is just what I’ve heard. ‘He won’t be playing at the weekend, guarantee it, or he’ll come off’ – and whatever those players said was always right.”
'He won't be fit at the weekend'@JonWalters19 admits he heard a lot of 'gossip' about Daniel Sturridge and his injury problems.
? Listen here ?
???:https://t.co/0kUniWPgQm#LFC pic.twitter.com/l2OQma3AaL— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) May 21, 2019
OPINION
This is really interesting stuff from Walters. Players are human beings and they obviously talk about their fellow professionals. But to hear that players are outright questioning the desire of Sturridge is startling in the extreme. The 29-year-old has always seemed to be worryingly susceptible to injuries, but now Walters is wondering whether Sturridge makes the most of small injuries, little niggles that he builds up to be bigger things that prevent him from playing. Looking at his injury record it’s hard to argue with the Irishman, in all honesty. However, only Sturridge will know how injured he is at any one time and it’s ultimately up to him whether he’s fit enough to play or not. He doesn’t give you the impression of someone who would run through a brick wall for his teammates, but perhaps that’s unfair. Having said that, when you hear Walters speak like this it does make you question the Liverpool star.
