Daniel Sturridge has won the Premier League and Champions League twice in his career, but now that his old clubs Chelsea and Manchester City are in the final of the billion-dollar ball, he has been clubless for more than a year at the age of 31. Has his career slipped further by a gambling scandal finally come to an end or can we expect a comeback from the man who represented England at a European and world championship?
By Thijs Verhaar
Sturridge was last under contract with Trabzonspor, which canceled his contract after being sentenced to a four-month suspension in March 2020 for breaking betting rules. The Englishman is said to have advised his brother Leon in 2018 to bet money on a transfer from him to Seville. Sturridge insists he only told him that club was interested and would never make a transfer to Spain. He was eventually rented out by Liverpool to West Bromwich Albion, meaning that any bet would have only cost money. Still, he was found guilty in 2019.
At the time, he was given a six-week sentence, which he unsuccessfully appealed. The suspension period and fine of 86,000 euros (converted) remained, which was reason for the English Football Association to also appeal. This resulted in a doubling of the fine in March 2020 and an extension of the suspension to four months, after which his Turkish club immediately terminated its three-year contract. “I agreed to that myself, because I don’t want to receive money from a team that I cannot assist on the field,” he said in an emotional video on Instagram.
He also argued for the abolition of the possibility to gamble on player transfers. “I have had a rough time since this story has come up and I keep calling on betting shops to stop these types of bets. It ensures that a professional soccer player can never talk freely with friends or family. Then you always run the risk of being sued and that has to stop. The tribunal admits that I have not bet and my loved ones have not bet anything, but I am still being punished ”, the attacker sipped. Sturridge concluded the video with the message that he was very disappointed with the situation. He also thanked everyone for their support.
He did not use the word comeback in his speech of more than two and a half years, although since his suspension he has been regularly associated with clubs from the American MLS. He now lives full-time in his home in Los Angeles and from there regularly shares snapshots on social media that show how hard he is working on his physique. Sometimes there is also a cryptic message about ‘monitoring the process’, ‘charging’ and coming back for everything but there does not seem to be a serious return for the time being. In fact, he only makes headlines these days with a bizarre story about his stolen dog.
His pet Lucci was taken by burglars in 2019 and the striker offered a reward of just under 30,000 euros for whoever would bring him back. A Foster Washington is said to have found the Pomeranian on the street and contacted him when he heard about the finder’s fee, but now still claims not to have received a penny. On Tuesday, May 25 TMZ Sports announced that Washington is starting a lawsuit against Sturridge, who could be seen on Instagram with his neatly delivered dog at home last week.
Sturridge broke through at Manchester City in 2007, but had to make way when Sheik Mansour entered.
Although his career is now clearly in a dip and may even have come to an end, he still has a very nice record. In 2007 he made his debut at Manchester City, which was not then owned by Sheik Mansour. He replaced none other than Georgios Samaras (former sc Heerenveen) and became a permanent fixture in the 2008/09 season. In that year the wealthy owner from Qatar entered and Sturridge formed a very nice striker duo with the Brazilian Robinho. Mansour, however, aimed for bigger names and allowed him to switch to Chelsea for a sum of 7 million euros at the end of the season.
There he became the top scorer in the FA Cup tournament, but he was nevertheless loaned out to Bolton Wanderers in January 2011, where he showed that he could handle the Premier League well with eight goals in twelve games. Once back at Stamford Bridge, he also showed that every now and then in London and in European duels, but injuries and three manager changes prevented him from making a really big break. He was therefore not allowed to fill in then the Blues won the Champions League in 2012, but was nevertheless awarded a medal for having played a role in previous matches.
Sturridge played 96 games for Chelsea, 160 for Liverpool, 32 for Manchester City, 12 for Bolton Wanderers and 16 for Trabzonspor.
His real breakthrough came in Liverpool, where he settled in January 2013 for a sum of 16 million euros. Sturridge immediately scored on his debut against Manchester United and formed a deadly duo with Luis Suarez in 2013-14. The Englishman scored 21 goals and took his country to the World Cup, where he scored against Italy in the opening game. In the same tournament, however, he also sustained an injury and that was the starting shot of a year in which he ended up from one injury to another. In 2015/16, despite knee and hamstring problems, he still became top scorer with thirteen goals and reached the final of the Europa League.
However, Jürgen Klopp’s entry marked the beginning of the end for Sturridge, who lost his starting spot to Roberto Firmino. Sturrigde would stay for another three years and play a supporting role in the ever-advancing Liverpool, but a departure was ultimately inevitable. He did, however, receive a second Champions League medal in 2019 because he was again part of the winning team. However, he did not play a minute in the final, making him the first Englishman to win the billion dollar ball with two different teams and not play a minute in a final.
Sturridge rose to great heights at Liverpool, but lost out when Jürgen Klopp and Roberto Firmino entered Anfield.
After his transfer-free departure from Liverpool, he decided to pick up the thread in Turkey. He signed with Trabzonspor and proved that he can still score with seven goals in his first fifteen matches. However, the gambling suspension prematurely ended the potential dream marriage. Almost simultaneously, the corona crisis broke out, forcing clubs to be thrifty, so you would think that a proven goalscorer who can be picked up on a transfer-free basis would quickly find a new job. Especially when he shows himself online as willing as Sturridge, but nevertheless, more than eleven months after his suspension came to an end, he still hasn’t found a club.
In part, this seems to be due to his recurring injuries. In October he replied as follows the Independent. “I recently saw a quote from Marco Reus that he would be willing to pay a lot of money to be able to play football without injuries or to just never be injured again. I would do that immediately. I would like to cough up any amount to be able to do that. I already spend a fortune on physios and do everything I can to live as healthy as possible. All to keep my body as fit as possible. But you can spend thousands of euros and hundreds of hours on it, but sometimes you just have bad luck. ”
However, apart from his physical discomfort, Sturridge seems to fully enjoy life without professional football. He regularly shares snaps of his family, sometimes has a picture with award-winning actors and, despite those cryptic hints of a return, has seemingly resigned himself to the end of his career. Various strikers reach their peak years in their early thirties, but Sturridge has had them for a long time as a World Cup participant and CL winner. After such a long break, clubs of the caliber Chelsea and Manchester City are no longer going to make an offer to him and be forgiven if he himself fits for the MLS or a club from the Championship with his status. He won’t say it out loud to anyone, but betting on Sturridge’s next club is now more risky than ever.