Liverpool FC Forum

Liverpool are closing in on the signings of Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge and Blackpool winger Thomas Ince.

England forward Sturridge, 23, is expected to cost in the region of £12m.

Ince left Anfield 18 months ago under previous manager Kenny Dalglish but is set to move back for £6m.

Neither player has finalised personal terms but Liverpool are hopeful both deals can be completed in the first few days of the January transfer window.

Play mediaRodgers speaking in August about Sturridge
Liverpool have put a deal in place with Chelsea for Sturridge, who has fallen out of favour with the London club.

The former Manchester City striker has only made seven league appearances for Chelsea this season, scoring one league goal against Tottenham in October.

His last league appearance for the Blues was in the 2-1 defeat by West Bromwich Albion on 17 November - Roberto Di Matteo's final league game in charge of the club.

Sturridge has not featured since Rafael Benitez arrived at Stamford Bridge, due to a hamstring injury.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is an admirer of Sturridge and tried to sign him on loan in August, but the Chelsea frontman wanted a permanent move.

Liverpool are currently 12th in the Premier League, with only 23 goals - 10 of which have been scored by Uruguay striker Luis Suarez.

Rodgers is keen to add to his striking options after letting Andy Carroll join West Ham on loan in August and then missing out on former Fulham striker Clint Dempsey on deadline day.

Ince, the 20-year-old son of former Liverpool midfielder Paul Ince, came through the academy at Anfield.

He has scored 13 goals for Blackpool in the Championship this season and attracted the attention of his former club who let him go to Blackpool for a compensation payment of £250,000 in August 2011.

Ince made one first-team appearance for Liverpool, coming on during extra time of Liverpool's league cup defeat by Northampton in September 2010.

The winger has five England under-21 caps.

Rodgers has put his faith in youth this season with Raheem Sterling, 18, a regular starter and 19-year-olds Andre Wisdom and Suso also featuring in the Liverpool first team.

first of all i dont understand why we got shot of him.......but we are going to pay 6mil to get him back?

We would end up paying around 4 million for ince with the clause we chucked into his sale.

Sturridge i think will offer us alot more than we have. Not as tricky as Luis but a better finisher.

A front 3 of Suarez-Sturridge-Assaidi/Sterling/Ince.Would be great

LFC1990 » Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:23 pm wrote:We would end up paying around 4 million for ince with the clause we chucked into his sale.

Sturridge i think will offer us alot more than we have. Not as tricky as Luis but a better finisher.

A front 3 of Suarez-Sturridge-Assaidi/Sterling/Ince.Would be great

Would it though? Im not sure. I dont like suarez out wide and sturridge is on record saying he doesnt like playing there so would probably come in as back up, Ince could come straight into the side but how much of an improvement would he be?
I need convincing that thats the best we can do with 16m.

Majority of Suarezs' goals come from him cutting in. He isnt much of a poacher where i think Sturridge is. If Gerrard got his act together i think a Sturridge- Gerrard partnership would be great. Suarez likes to do alot of tricks and skills even if he is one on one with the keeper he would try and meg him first

lakes10 » Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:12 pm wrote:first of all i dont understand why we got shot of him.......but we are going to pay 6mil to get him back?

If you actually knew your ***** from your elbow and actually did the bare minimum research instead of posting every piece of drivel on the internet you would know that we did not “get shot” of him. He decided to leave and there was nothing the club could do about it.

I will be positively delighted if we sign Sturridge ,Ive been advocating that he should be the first name we go after on transfer day since Dalglish was in
charge ,such a wonderfully talented player and natural goalscorer . It came as no surprise he outscored Torres last season under Boas and that was being
deployed on the wing  . incidentally in the game in the youtube video he tore our defence to shreds ,even back then I knew the kid would become a
special player .

I think if we put this lad up front in his natural position he will become to Liverpool as important and as potent a threat as Andy Cole was for United .

RED BEERGOGGLES » Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:21 pm wrote:

I will be positively delighted if we sign Sturridge ,Ive been advocating that he should be the first name we go after on transfer day since Dalglish was in
charge ,such a wonderfully talented player and natural goalscorer . It came as no surprise he outscored Torres last season under Boas and that was being
deployed on the wing  . incidentally in the game in the youtube video he tore our defence to shreds ,even back then I knew the kid would become a
special player .

I think if we put this lad up front in his natural position he will become to Liverpool as important and as potent a threat as Andy Cole was for United .

I sure hope you are right.

I've been wondering if a young Englishmen is the best use of so much money, but I think I understand Rodgers thinking - we should be able to find a player of similar ability overseas, and probably cheaper, but Rodgers wants someone who'll hit the ground running - i.e., someone used to this league. I know that there are plenty of examples of players from other leagues who've fitted right in, but it is probably a fair generalisation that it takes time.

I suspect we'll be looking further afield in the summer. Certainly hope so.

Even Kevin Keegan isnt a fan of the old Sturridge.....

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/st ... ol?cc=3436

eds » Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:08 am wrote:Even Kevin Keegan isnt a fan of the old Sturridge.....

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/st ... ol?cc=3436

As long as the oracle that is Keegan says the Sturridge deal is wrong then it must be...

lakes10 » Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:12 pm wrote:first of all i dont understand why we got shot of him.......but we are going to pay 6mil to get him back?

It's the 'Liverpool way' to rip ourselves off.

SouthCoastShankly » Sat Dec 22, 2012 9:32 am wrote:

eds » Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:08 am wrote:Even Kevin Keegan isnt a fan of the old Sturridge.....

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/st ... ol?cc=3436

As long as the oracle that is Keegan says the Sturridge deal is wrong then it must be...

Also, he's not the centre-forward figure that Liverpool need. He's like Theo Walcott in that he wants to play up top but I think he's not really suited to that as he's too lightweight and can't hold it up. What Suarez needs is someone in front of him to play off and Sturridge is just too similar. Daniel can definitely beat people, he has got an eye for a goal, and he'll improve the squad - but he's not the sort of player who will have Liverpool fans saying "Wow, he's the one".

I more or less agree with that, though. He's a talented lad who we can be reasonably sure would improve the squad -- not least because of what the alternatives are i.e. no other recognised striker and wide options that include Downing and Cole -- but he isn't going to outmuscle too many defenders, pose any real threat in the air, or add too much to our attacking hold-up play, because he's another player in the mould of the quick and the technical. It wouldn't be such a problem if we actually had others to make up for the lack of some of these qualities, but we don't and that's why it's fair to ask whether it's the best use of our budget. If there is any chance whatsoever of signing players like Llorente (6 months left on his contract?), Huntelaar or players of sufficient quality who fit a similar mould to them, then I think that's what we should be doing first before signing players like Sturrudge and Ince. I know many won't agree but if it comes down to it and we've still not addressed the issue, I'd bring Carroll back. We don't have to play him every week but we need strikers, and we need a different sort of threat, and he'd give us that.

I fear Sturridge may be a big mistake by Rodgers and if the lad flops as I suspect he
will then Borini and Allen better shape up because he cant afford to £40m quids worth
of failures on his watch without feeling some heat from the owners and fans. We just
cant keep wasting money.

Cant say i'm excited by either of them.

Sturridge medical tomorrow according to SSN