It feels inevitable at this point, but I'll be sad to see him go, more for the promise of what could have been than what we'll be losing today. For a minute there, he looked on the verge of world class, but his body never could quite keep up to his talent and injuries have ravaged him.
There's still a shit load of talent in there, but I'm not sure how much he's able to show it for us these days, due to a combination of the way we play, the lack of consistent game time and the fact that I'm not sure the body is fully up to it anymore. He'll do well for another club well suited to his style, and whilst I think he will always score goals, I think the days of him being the kind of striker to dominate a game or make life hell for CBs are long gone.
It doesn't make any sense at all to keep him, in my mind. Yes he's still a good player, but he doesn't suit the set-up, contributes next to nothing for the outlay, is one of the few players we have with actual decent resale value and he's unlikely to be happy sat on the bench. Keeping Sturridge means settling for something that we've already established doesn't quite work like we need it to, and the opportunity cost of that is we don't go out and buy a striker who actually does suit the system, cos we have too many here already.
Truthfully I don't think any of our strikers are safe - Ings surely won't be around much longer, and Origi's stay of execution may only be prompted by the fact that we are unlikely to sell 3 strikers in one window. Not sure where Sturridge goes though - wages too big for a player with his injury record, doesn't strike me as the type willing to drop down to a West Ham and we'll want a decent fee.
