Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has admitted that he would be "surprised" if Daniel Sturridge stayed at the club this summer.
The 27-year-old has again struggled with injuries this season, but even when he has been fit and available he has often been limited to substitute appearances, with Jurgen Klopp preferring Roberto Firmino as his central striker.
Sturridge has been linked with the likes of West Ham United and Newcastle United in recent weeks, and Carragher believes that it could be best for all parties if he left Anfield at the end of the season.
"I don't think Daniel Sturridge has ever been a Jurgen Klopp-type of player. When everyone has been fit he's never really played. He's got injury problems which is an issue but I'll probably be surprised if he's there next season. It might be better for everyone if he moves on and tries to rejuvenate his career because he had a brilliant start to his Liverpool career; him and [Luis] Suarez were devastating. But it just seems to have tailed off now," he told Newsweek.
"Injuries are obviously a problem. All players are different and some can't handle the rigours of Premier League football and the training and the intensity of it — and that certainly looks the case at the moment with Daniel. Some people need to be 100% fit to play, physically and mentally, and that's something for Daniel because when he does play, he's devastating.
"He's so sharp. And the one worry is that he loses that pace or sharpness because of the injuries, and when you see him play now you just fear for him in that way. If you're going to play week in week out, it may have to be a level down. But he certainly has the quality to play for [a club like] Tottenham, there's no doubt about that. It's whether he's got the injury record and then you've got [Dele] Alli and [Harry] Kane, which isn't a bad front two.
"You just hope he can get a really good pre-season behind him and really go in firing, because I think when Daniel Sturridge was at his best two or three years ago I think he was the best English striker out there. Now, he's fallen down the pecking order because he hasn't been playing, but if he could get back to those levels, he's right in there in the England team and England squad."
Sturridge has made just five Premier League starts for Liverpool this season, the most recent of which came in January.
Barney Corkhill
