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Daniel Sturridge once again named in a feeble link to Newcastle United

3 years ago
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So many transfer stories are laughable and clearly made up but a Daniel Sturridge one back in February was truly embarrassing.

An ‘exclusive’ from 90 Min actually claiming that Newcastle United had been in talks with ‘intermediaries’ to bring in Daniel Sturridge to play for the rest of the season whilst Callum Wilson was out injured.

Steve Bruce had confirmed a serious hamstring injury for the NUFC striker, one that would end up keeping him out of Premier League action for over two months.

The January 2021 transfer window had ended without Newcastle bringing in a much needed goalscoring alternative to Wilson, so the basis of the lame transfer story was that Daniel Sturridge could be set to sign after ‘talks’ as he was a free agent.

The only problem with that Daniel Sturridge to Newcastle ‘exclusive’ was that it was 100% pure fiction, as Newcastle United had filled all 25 places in their official Premier League squad for the rest of the 2020/21season, so they were the only ones who could play in the remaining 15 PL matches. No player could be signed and brought in to play for the rest of the 2020/21 season instead of those 25 senior players, even if they were available as a free agent. If there had been less than 25 players named in the official NUFC PL squad then yes in theory it could have been possible but clearly made up when zero places available.

Fast forward to the aftermath of the 2021 summer transfer window which closed six days ago and Newcastle United once again linked with Daniel Sturridge.

The official Newcastle United Premier League 25 man senior squad for the first half of the season hasn’t been announced yet but surely zero chance of Daniel Sturridge becoming a surprise inclusion. Though potentially there could be a place open, if Steve Bruce doesn’t name all 25 senior NUFC players that he has got, which would include four keepers to make it up to 25.

It is The Star who are now running a story pushing the possibility of Daniel Sturridge interesting Newcastle United.

A transfer window ended, Callum Wilson forced off through injury in that last game v Southampton, Steve Bruce admitting afterwards that they’d have to wait to see how serious it was, with no official word since.

However, now aged 32, Daniel Sturridge has been without a club since March 2020 and is indeed a free agent still 18 months later, just as he was in February this year when that daft NUFC story ran.

The idea that someone who hasn’t played any professional football, at any level, for over a year and a half, could be a credible option to play in the Premier League, is laughable.

To be honest, it is the same with pretty much every single one of these free agent stories that the media insist on running every time a transfer window has closed. There are almost always massive red flags with any layer who finds himself without a club after a window has closed, red flags saying that whether it is injury, attitude, fitness, desire, behaviour, form or whatever, these players are without a club for good reason (Daniel Sturridge has started 43 league games since May 2014).

Another factor on this occasion is that we have just had that ludicrous Mike Ashley statement on Friday, where he made clear that no other signings were allowed after Joe Willock signed for Newcastle in August. The owner also stating / claiming that Steve Bruce had been made fully of this before Willock was bought.

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