The Liverpool Echo is running with a story this morning suggesting that Daniel Sturridge is unhappy at Anfield and wants a move.

Although the report itself does not suggest that Sturridge may join Saints, indeed two clubs mentioned are West Ham and Stoke City, the whisper in the media is that the Liverpool striker would be better suited to Southampton and that we could be going to make a move.

Certainly it is unlikely that Sturridge, especially with his injury record would attract the attention of the other five clubs in the so called big six, so that will leave him looking lower down the Premier League for his next destination.

That being the case the acknowledged 7th club in English football at the moment is Saints and a move to St Mary's would be very attractive to the England International who this season has almost as many World Cup goals for England to his name than he does Premier League starts for Liverpool.

There will be two issues for Sturridge, the first is a club that will give him game time and the second a club that can afford both his transfer fee and wages.

The striker is reported to be on £120k a week at Liverpool and one of their highest earners and that is going to be an issue for any club given that his true value is probably barely half that given his injury record and also the fact that he still has two years left on his contract at the end of this season.

So from this point of view it would need a club that would be attractive to him in terms of the chance to win something to entice him to take less, also perhaps the hope that Liverpool might be prepared to bargain on this front in order to make him an attractive signing financially.

Sturridge's transfer fee is being quoted as £28 million in the Liverpool Echo article, the reality is that it will be much less and Saints could bargain down that fee or persuade Liverpool to use some of it to pay off Sturridge's contract.

The key to securing this deal or indeed any other transfer in the January window is where Saints are in the season, if they are still in the Europa League with perhaps a favourable draw, if they have also overcome Arsenal to make the League Cup semi's as well as still in the top ten, then this is something that would attract the likes of Sturridge, although in this case the player is cup tied in the League Cup.

This story is good news to Saints fans for two reasons, firstly many would like to see a striker brought in during the January window and Sturridge is a quality player who despite his injury issues has still averaged a goal every two games in all games played in both this season and last.

Secondly it is nice to see a player being linked as leaving Anfield and coming to St Mary's and not the other way round for once.

Photo: Action Images

michaeljoycetf added 10:02 - Nov 15 I wonder how our board would react if we were offered Sturridge and 20 m for Virgil.
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SonicBoom added 10:17 - Nov 15 I think the chances of this happening are just about nil. He won't be leaving Liverpool and if he does I doubt he would consider us, Stoke or West Ham. He might consider Everton if they do actually have money although there are obviously issues with that move - and of course Spurs who could probably do with some support for Kane as Jansen hasn't really done it yet.
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SanMarco added 10:39 - Nov 15 "whisper in the media"? This guy will not come to us - and if he did we would need to invest in extending the treatment room...
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highfield49 added 11:06 - Nov 15 I don't see this move happening either but how about starting a rumour that Saints will look to sign Dembele from Celtic in January offering Jayrod or Shane Long as part of the deal?
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saintmark1976 added 11:37 - Nov 15 Even if this whisper were to be true which I would have thought highly unlikely,who exactly would give authority for the go ahead come the transfer window? I can not see K L wanting to spend any of her money prior to a sell out or for the new owners to be in place by the end of the transfer window let alone the beginning. If I am being overly pessimistic and we were to be in the market would it be too much to ask that we buy players who are fit and do not carry a history of injuries limiting their appearances?

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JGH added 11:53 - Nov 15 This "whispering" stems from one throw away comment from Stan Collymore recycled by various less than reliable papers (i.e. Mirror & Express - see link below) with little to write about during the international break For someone who usually has such disdain for pie in the sky transfer stories I'm surprised you've given this any air time. http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/732388/Daniel-Sturridge-Everton-West-Ham

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steve73 added 11:53 - Nov 15 The so-called 'whisper' is just lazy hack journalism, filling column inches by musing on what clubs might suit him best. There's not a chance of him coming here. I doubt he'll leave in January at all but if he does it won't be for Saints, Stoke or WHU. Despite his injury record and iffy attitude I think he'll still get snapped up by a big club. Or Everton.
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SaintNick added 12:11 - Nov 15 Of course this is pie in the sky at the moment, but that does not mean that it wont happen, plenty of rumours happen and plenty dont even tough they have been a lot closer than most have realised. If he leaves Liverpool then there is as much chance of him coming here than anywhere else with the exception of Spurs if they were to make a bit. Saints could pay in the region of £65k a week for wages, that would mean he would have to take a pay hike of about £3 million a year, there are plenty of ways to get round that, Saints could pay the going rate with Liverpool paying off Sturridge to the tune of £4-5 million with the proceeds. It will all depend on whether he wants to play or just sit back and earn loads of cash

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bstokesaint added 13:04 - Nov 15 Sturridge reminds me a little of Shane Long before he joined us, in that his best games always tended to be against us. Let's be honest we've been crying out for a striker that could find the net, but is this the one that we'd really take a punt on? Huge wages and a bad injury track record don't bode well. Also as others have stated are we likely to spend anything right now with current rumours going on? We've definitely got it, because we haven't even touched the TV money with our players coming in, but just can't see us spending it in this window.

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abingdonsaint added 13:19 - Nov 15 Not a chance! Sturridge does not fit our profile at all. Nonsense!
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SaintNick added 14:10 - Nov 15 All I have read over the past three months is how we failed to sign a striker in the summer, now we get linked with one that is a current england international and has a goal every two games since the start of last season and half the people are saying he isnt good enough
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halftimeorange added 14:29 - Nov 15 Apart from the reasons already given, Sturridge strikes me as a player with a big ego, particularly selfish when it comes to playing in others with a better chance of scoring and churlish, rarely smiling or celebrating. Some of our success is built on not having superstar personalities. Although Sturridge is undeniably a capable of scoring goals I can't see him fitting the Saints player profile.

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darkangelv2 added 16:54 - Nov 15 The guy has glass ankles and isn't suited to the amount of running we expect from a striker. On his day, absolute class but an (very) expensive passenger would be my worry. We lack physicality up front that we enjoyed with Lambert and Pelle. We need to bring the edge of steel back to our front line.
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vanmans added 17:07 - Nov 15 Why would we want another sick note player like Sturridge we have enough already. What we need is a big lump striker like we had before.
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Archersclose added 18:11 - Nov 15 Nick, He is good enough but there is more chance of nailing blancmange to a steel girder than there is of Saints signing him.
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steve73 added 18:23 - Nov 15 SaintNick you should be delighted that people on here don't want him. The pieces you've written all season basically savage every fan that thinks the squad is too light and imply that we don't understand much about football. The fact that we don't want him (and you do!) says no, not any old player will do and that also no, we don't want the club to overspend or buy so-called megastars who might disrupt the team ethic. He's a terrible fit for us and you'd have been better off writing an article on this story saying as such.

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SaintPaulVW added 20:14 - Nov 15 He's no Jimmy Case.
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TeamCortese added 22:08 - Nov 15 Nick has a point. I can believe how negative people are about signing Sturridge. This guy has a much better record than any striker who's come to this club. Can people give alternatives please?!
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Jesus_02 added 09:38 - Nov 16 If we could afford 120k we would have Morgan back. We cant/wont pay those wages. Someone from abroad, from lower leagues or someone willing to take a pay cut to resurect their career will always be our model. And TBH its not done us too badly
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bstokesaint added 12:13 - Nov 16 TeamCortese, if there are better options there is a good chance we won't have heard of them yet, much like Pelle and Mane. As others have said he's not the best fit for our club given his temperament and injury record. That said I'd be happy to take a punt on him at a fraction of the transfer cost and a cut in wages. See how much he really wants to play.
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TeamCortese added 08:19 - Nov 17 bstokesaint: I get that he hasn't got the best of attitudes but he's got the quality required upfront to address our lack of goals. The truth of the matter is we need players of Sturridge's quality and stature to move to the next level. I genuinely hope we find hidden gems that require less money and management in terms of managing ego. However, by making such purchases we continue the message that we're just a stepping-stone to bigger things, as the player will most probably need time (like Mane and others) to adapt to EPL. It would also send out a message to our squad that we're serious about our ambitions and might even stop the cycle of players leaving Southampton every summer for so-called bigger and better things. Could you imagine how Tadic and VVD would react if we signed Sturridge. People like Jay Rod and Shane Long would definitely have to step it up to keep their future at Saints. It would shakes things up for sure. If we want to reach that level then we have to invest in our squad--not asset strip it every season!

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