The England striker has missed 20 Premier League matches through injury this season and the Reds boss has admitted that he does not know if he can rely on him next season
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has cast doubt on Daniel Sturridge's future at the club, revealing that he is not sure if his injury problems are behind him.
Sturridge has missed 34 of the Reds' 52 games this season - including 20 Premier League matches and the Reds' six Champions League clashes - and is currently on the sidelines with a hip injury.
Rodgers not only admitted that he is unsure when the England man will return to action, but also that he may not even be fit enough to be the club's first-choice striker next season.
“He’s not fit and once he can show that consistency and fitness, you can see in his performance level that it’s a high one. But obviously he has missed a lot of the season so we need to assess it. Either way, if he’s not available, we need to have that support," he told the press.
“We have to hope with Daniel that this year was just an unlucky season and he can come back super-fit and super-strong because he has an immense talent.
"You can’t argue with that. He can be as good as any striker in the world with his talent.”
But the Northern Irishman also hinted at his frustration when asked about the need for a quality goalscorer to help overcome this season's post-Luis Suarez struggles: “I need one that is going to be playing and at a top level every week.”
Liverpool look set to miss out on Champions League qualification this season and for Rodgers the reasoning is simple.
“It’s not rocket science. We haven’t scored enough goals this year. If the sequence goes on we are on course to be around 60 goals down on last year," he said.
"That’s a huge amount. I came in the season before and we had 49 goals, so you’re taking nearly a season of goals out of the team.
“It’s simple, we need more of a scoring threat. We missed it immensely this year and obviously that has affected results.
"I think what the players have done to arrive where we have is credit to them without that. So in the summer we have to try to find goals again. We looked last summer and certainly will again this summer. If we do that we have an opportunity again for next season to be like our second year.”
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