Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Liverpool sign Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge on long-term deal

Daniel Sturridge says he wants to stay at Liverpool for a "long time" after completing his move from Chelsea.



The 23-year-old became the Reds first signing of the January transfer window after penning a long-term contract at Melwood today.



He told Liverpoolfc.com: "I am humbled and happy to be here."



"Brendan Rodgers said he sees me here for a long time - and I also see myself here for a long time. I've not signed here to play for a couple of years and then move on.



"I've signed to be here for as long as possible. It's a humongous club - for me, one of the biggest in the world - and to have the fans and world-class players we have here is amazing."



Liverpool is Sturridge's third club, having begun his career at Manchester City, where he finished top-scorer as City lifted the FA Youth Cup in 2008.



He left the following year to join Chelsea. He had a loan spell at Bolton, before returning to Stamford Bridge, where he has been in and out of the team ever since.



Having scored 21 goals in 34 appearances for England at youth level, Fabio Capello handed him a senior bow in a friendly against Sweden in November 2011.



He has collected three more caps since and last summer scored twice for Great Britain at the Olympic Games.



10 facts about Daniel Sturridge


1. Daniel Sturridge was born in Birmingham in 1989 and before moving to Manchester City's youth set-up in 2003, he spent time at Aston Villa and Coventry.



2. Sturridge comes from a footballing background. He is the nephew of former Derby and Wolves striker Dean Sturridge.



3. In the 2007-08 season, Sturridge became the only player ever to score in the Youth FA Cup, the FA Cup and the Premier League in the same season.



4. He finished the 2009-10 FA Cup campaign as Chelsea's leading scorer with four goals as Carlo Ancelotti's side completed winning the double by beating Portsmouth 1-0 at Wembley.



5. In January 2011 he went out on loan to Bolton and when he netted against Wolves, Tottenham, Everton and Newcastle in succession, he became only the sixth player to score in his first four games for a club in the Premier League.



6. Sturridge can play either as a striker or out wide. In March 2012, he told Sky Sports: "Fitness-wise, it helps you so much playing on the wing as it's a completely different job - you do a lot more runs than you do up front. Thierry Henry played wide for Juventus and then went to Arsenal and played as a centre-forward."



7. In his first appearance of the 2011-12 campaign, Sturridge scored with a memorable back-heel in the 50th minute against Sunderland.



8. Sturridge has represented England at every level from U16 to U21 and full international. He netted in the final of the 2010 European U17 Championship against Italy.



9. The 22-year-old has Premier League, Champions League and two FA Cup winners' medals to his name.



10. Sturridge was named in Stuart Pearce's 18-man squad for the Great Britain Olympic football team to compete at the London 2012 Olympics this summer and the forward netted twice for Team GB including the match-winning goal against Uruguay.

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