07 Jun 2016 10:28:42
I know a lot of people love the idea of signing Higuain but he will be 29 in December and with Sturridge returning to fitness, I think it would just be a change for changes sake. Firmino wouldn't lose his place as he is a hard worker who creates just as many goals as he scores. People forget how young he is and he really could be as good as Suarez one day.

Sturridge on the other hand may create a few goals but he is mainly a goal scorer. Higuain is exactly the same though so they wouldn't be a very good partnership in my opinion. They are both greedy and take up similar positions. That's from an observational point of view. From a statistical point of view they also only got 5 assists combined last season (3 for Higs and 2 for Danny) .

So the question is, will Higuain score more goals in English football than Sturridge does?

Sturridge scored 13 goals last season in just 1700 minutes of football despite being in and out of the team due to his injury and recovery. Let's not forget that Danny is 2 years younger as well.

It such a close call on who is better that I don't think it is worth rocking the boat. Selling Sturridge and signing Higuain would definitely cost us at least a net sum of £30m. Is Higuain £30m better than Sturridge off the back of one exceptional season in a shocking Italian league? There is no doubt that he will score goals. He is a 20+ goals a season striker. But I strongly believe that Sturridge can be too. And with Origi and Ings both looking really raring to go and put pressure on our first choice strikers in Firmino and Sturridge, I think we have enough firepower for next season. Despite them all having injury issues last season, those 4 players combined scored 37 goals. Not is not bad at all considering Sturridge (13) missed half the season. Ings (3) missed pretty much the whole season, and Origi (10) and Firmino (11) are young players who have only been in England for less than a year.


1.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 10:42:07
I would agree with you MKS. It's a part of the team that doesn't necessarily need for any tinkering. I would keep the faith with Sturridge and trust Origi and Ings enough to back him up sufficiently with Firmino waiting in the wings, when needed.


2.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 10:42:37
Don't get me wrong, Higuain is a fantastic striker. I've no doubts he'd be successful in any league and that he'd certainly do very well for LFC.

However, I'd be very disappointed if we were to make such a big signing when we have such exciting options up front.

I'm a huge fan of Sturridge and - if we can keep him fit - there's absolutely no one better to lead the line for us. Origi is proving to be an absolutely brilliant signing and will only get better, so I expect him to play a lot of games next season. Then we have Ings, who I think will see a lot of game-time next season too - I think he'll do very, very well under Klopp.

Ultimately; Higuain is a great player, who I'd love to see at Anfield - but, not at the price Napoli would demand and definitely not at the expense of Origi, Ings and Sturridge.


3.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 10:43:49
Don't see us signing him and hope we just keep Sturridge. But if we lost Sturridge as well as potentially coutinho then he'd be who I hoped we sign.

Always liked him as a player and has a fantastic goal record through out his career. Also game is based on intelligence and technique so imagine he still has at least 4 seasons at the highest level.


4.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 10:50:06
Wasn't finished but it stopped letting me type!

All I was going to add was, do we really have £70m to spend on a striker when that is probably our strongest position in the whole squad? And a striker soon to be 29 who has never played in England at that!

I just think we should keep Sturridge and invest that cash in areas we are weak such as left back and wide players.


5.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 10:54:29
Can we relay on Sturridge not geting injured and we don't if Ings we score us the goals we need . Higuain scores goals for fun . So if we have forward players leaving this signing would put fear into other clubs and we could see .


6.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 11:10:55
I agree with most of that MK my only concern is that if higuian plays 3/ 4's of a season and Dan continues on his average of playing about 1/ 5 of a season then higuian is worth the net value of 30 mil. ( assuming he actually scores when he playing) definitely a tough one and no doubt we should be prioritising other positions before even considering another striker.


7.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 11:13:21
I agree, higuain could turn out to be another soldado, not sure he could handle the physicality of the premiership. ans at 29 I would rather we went for someone younger and with more pace if we are spending that sort of money. the Basel guy looks good, also Williams from Bilbao looks a great prospect.


8.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 11:19:24
I don't know where you got those sort of figures from but I can assure you he would cost that amount. You say a net spent of £30m and suggest higuain would cost £70m meaning, you think we could get up to £40m for Sturridge? I think people should lay off the numbers until official figures come into play.

As for bringing higuain in, well he's a world class player, and world class players is certainly what we need. I just think striker isn't such a priority right now. Sturridge is still a bit of enigma for me. He spent so long injured before klopp came in, and then klopp came out and said those things about him and then he seemed to have a change of mentality and stayed fit. I still feel he is quite unreliable, he has yet to prove me wrong on that, but injuries aren't really his fault so I'm not blaming him. I would like our efforts to go into a left back and a centre midfielder especially as I think these are more priority positions. But if we where to sell several strikers (Sturridge included) then higuain would be my pick up front.


9.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 11:20:07
Some good replies. Rolandinho in that unlikely scenario that Sturridge forces his way out then yes we need a top striker. But there are far better options than Higuaín for us. Maybe not in terms of ability, but in terms of risk and cost. For example if we have £70m to play with and Sturridge leaves, I would much rather pay a signing on fee to tempt Aubameyang, Greizeman or Lacazette to the club. They are a lot more suited to English football, much more value for money, younger, and still capable of scoring 20+ goals a season.

I just don't think we should force Sturridge out with a major signing though.

In Firmino and Ings we have two very selfless strikers who will put a hell of a shift in, win the ball back high up the pitch, and create goals for their team mates. Ings tends to do that with very unselfish runs, whilst Firmino creates goals more directly. Then in Origi and Sturridge we have two players who offer excellent pace in behind and good hold up play. Sturridge via skill and technique and Origi via strength and aerial ability. Origi is probably the most versatile as he is also capable of playing out wide as well.

That gives us an excellent balance in our striking options with lots of potentially good partnerships. None of those players are exactly the same and any combination would work in my opinion.

Higuaín is very similar to Sturridge though. He is probably more two footed, but doesn't have as much pace. Aside from that they are very similar strikers though. So Higuaín would definitely be a Sturridge replacement. Unless we force him to, I really don't think Sturridge will go anywhere.

I have a gut feeling that with his new found fitness under Klopp, Sturridge will score well over 20 goals next season, unless he suffers another relapse. In that event though, I have enough faith in either Origi and Ings to deputise alongside Firmino.


10.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 11:38:09
Van persie, berbatov, cantona, wright? Sometimes forget the age and think what if he comes in and scores 20 a season over the next 2 years and fires us to top 4? We will have money to target the next one or maybe origi will learn so much off him. he will be ready to take the mantle?


11.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 11:47:18
You cannot buy players to put fear on other clubs. we have three stikers excluding Benteke and Firimino. There is absolutely no need to add another one ( expensive one ) . Given you sell sturridge we should look for a young striker who fits your pass and move high pressing system. Coutinho departure has nothing to do with stiking position.


12.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 12:52:50
Haven't been on here in a while! I agree with MK, no point spending for spendings sake. On the other hand, you say Sturridge has more pace, but am I the only one who seems to think he has lost quite a bit of his pace? I think it was the Sevilla game (may be wrong) and looked like he was running in water!


13.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 13:21:01
Kman92, If you read it properly you'd see that I said "at least a net sum of £30m".

When you factor in that Sturridge might not go for any more than £25m, Napoli's asking price is £70m, and then consider agent fees as well, £30m was a pretty conservative cost! It would likely be much higher than that unless Napoli could be knocked down significantly. Higuaín is indeed world class. But if you would rather sign him than say Aubameyang and Lacazette then in my opinion you are crazy! Perhaps Higuaín is the best option who would actually be willing to sign for us, but if that is the case, I'd rather keep Sturridge and stop breaking FFP rules every season.

I am not saying Higuaín wouldn't get me excited. That would be a lie. But I'm just not sure it's a very financially sensible decision! If he flops and can't cope with the English game, there is no chance we'd recoup the fee we paid and we can't afford a £70m mistake. It is a massive gamble. If it paid off though, there is no doubt he could make a difference and if he fired in 35 goals in the premier league it goes without saying we would compete for the title.


14.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 13:20:10
The? Is can we go into the new season as Sturridge as your 1st choice st knowing if he gets injured it could hurt are season . Ings and Origi are still young and not proven they could score 20 goals .


15.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 14:29:13
If sturridge leaves then I would hope for higuain, we aren't getting aubemyang (far too many teams ahead of that que) and don't imagine we could get lacazette either. He'd be massively expensive as well and again think we'd face competition from teams he'd prefer to go to.

Plus if we got lacazette still thing he'd be a bigger risk on adapting the the BPL, struggled last season and his played his whole career for 1 club. Higuain has moved from Argentina to Spain to Italy and is a more experienced player who I don't think would struggle to adapt at all.

The only doubt I might about higuain would be whether he could do the high pressing. Whilst it is a risk spending what I'd imagine to be £50m-ish on higuain it is a bigger risk to miss out on CL football next season and we will struggle to get that if we don't have a 20 goal a season striker, which I hope will be sturridge but if he goes - go Gonzalo.


16.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 14:48:10
I disagree, Redmen Reus. I think that Origi has actually proven a lot over the second half of this season. If Sturridge were injured, I'd feel pretty confident with Origi up front. Obviously, there's no guarantees he'll score 20-25 goals in a season, but - barring injury - I think he'll do us proud.

I also just don't think that Klopp will look to change for the sake of it. I think he'll be looking at that first-team squad and realise just how much was achieved last season. We've got to remember; we made two finals, with a team that he hadn't assembled, no pre-season, with a ton of injuries and many of that squad showed a significant improvement over the last few months.

I highly doubt there'll be many coming in over the summer. We've got a few already (and they certainly look as if they'll improve the squad), but we really need to sell before we do anything more.

It's not about not having the cash to spend on the likes of Higuain (although, at approximately 50-70M, that would be a huge gamble), it's more about letting go those that offer little to the system.

A LB is a must, but we know there are players that the club are looking at, but I don't think we need to improve in many other areas.


17.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 15:13:22
stuie boy,

i agree with you on sturridges pace, maybe he has been told to play that way i don't know but he does not use it has much as he used to do maybe he's been told his sprinting are causing the injuries, but he has defo lost a step or 2, so that makes the both of the on par, has both are top strikers and will score 20 goals a season if studge stays fit, but because of all his injuries can he be relied on to give us a full season, i'm not doubting his ability on the pitch but he does get injured a lot and does miss a lot of games, i would love to see him play all season because his goals would help us a lot which means we would have a chance of winning most of our games, but its all down to his reliability, he does not get injured on purpose but when it comes down to it liverpool fc need a stiker who will play all season.


18.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 18:10:37
We really have no need to sign a striker. Sturridge, Firmino, Origi, Ings, Benteke, Balotelli. Even if we're to sell 3 (Balotelli and Benteke included), we still wouldn't need another - in my opinion.
A proper left back, and a right back (if we can sell Clyne - he's good, but not that good to me) . But otherwise, just a left back and Mario Gotze or any other player that can play across the front line.
I think the club should be more interested in seriously trimming the squad. Having loads of players means one way or the other trying to satisfy them.


19.) 07 Jun 2016
07 Jun 2016 19:32:52
@MK 100% agree mate. It is our strongest position in the whole squad too, you're right.