LIVERPOOL manager Jurgen Klopp says he has not given any thought to Daniel Sturridge’s long-term future even though he does not know when the England forward might return to fitness.
Sturridge has managed just 106 minutes over three matches since Klopp succeeded Brendan Rodgers at Anfield and is not in contention for today’s FA Cup fourth-round visit of West Ham or Tuesday’s trip to Premier League leaders Leicester after more interruptions to his training schedule.
Since he moved to Merseyside three years ago Sturridge has been unavailable for 54.8 per cent of his time at the club – a total of 615 days missed out of 1,122.
“He cannot play tomorrow and for sure against Leicester but I don’t know what happens after Leicester,” said Klopp.
“He is still working, sometimes it’s better, sometimes it’s a bit worse because of one or the other issues.
“He has done a lot of sessions in the last few weeks but it is always interrupted through a few breaks so he needs consistency in sessions and that is what we try to do.
“With his injury history that is not coincidence, some things are not right if you are injured that often.
“I think everyone in this room knows Daniel much better than myself.
“I’ve seen him playing, I’ve seen him a few times in training but there is no doubt about his quality but that is not the thing to think about.
“I am not here to think about what happens with a player in the future, we have to work in this moment together with Daniel on his fitness.
“He is a very good player but in this moment he is not available so we don’t have to talk too much about him.”
