It was a bit of an anti-climax when it was finally announced. After months of speculation Daniel Sturridge completed his long-expected move to Liverpool.
Brendan Rodgers had been on the lookout for a striker since the club bungled a move for a centre-forward after letting Andy Carroll go on loan.
And the 23-year-old’s arrival for a fee in the region of €15 million gives the Reds another option in an area which was quite threadbare.
But it will be interesting to see how Rodgers intends to accommodate the former Chelsea and Manchester City forward into his plans.
Sturridge has not hidden his desire to ply his trade up front during his time at Stamford Bridge.
Although Rodgers has used a variety of formations including ones with a back three, the 4-3-3 seems to be his favoured setup. And in that layout the centre-forward position is Luis Suarez’ domain.
The Uruguayan has improved in that position this season with 15 goals in 20 starts. But his chance conversion rate of 16 per cent still leaves a lot to be desired compared to Man United’s Robin Van Persie (30 per cent), Sergio Aguero (25 per cent) and Demba Ba (31 per cent).
Withdrawn role
Suarez has played on the right of a front three for Uruguay alongside Diego Forlan and Edinson Cavani.
But he is at his best in the middle – ideally in a withdrawn role just behind the main striker.
If Liverpool was to replicate such a formation, Rodgers would have to adopt a 4-2-3-1 with Suarez tucked in behind Sturridge.
But whether Sturridge can cut it as a lone striker at the highest level is still an unknown factor. He did quite well up front at Bolton two years ago – but that was a in a pairing with Johan Elmander.
The other option is to stick with a 4-3-3 and hope Sturridge is willing to operate on the right wing which would allow the left-footed striker to cut inside.
The England man is not a natural winger but he has the pace to be instrumental out wide with reasonable success in this position under Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea, scoring 11 league goals in 2011-12.
There is much to ponder for Rodgers but any headaches will be tempered by the fact that there are more options to experiment with.
