Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge commits future to club, outlining 'disrespect' about injuries

Posted Thursday, February 25, 2016 by Express.co.uk

DANIEL STURRIDGE claims it is the "biggest disrespect ever" to say he did not want to play football and insists he wants to stay at Liverpool.

The England striker launched a passionate defence as he spoke out for the first time on his long battle with injuries.

Sturridge also insisted his future is at Liverpool despite reports he wanted to quit because of continued questions over his mentality.

The England forward was hammered on social media during his lay-offs with the latest being a hamstring problem that kept him out for two months.

He said: "To say a player doesn't want to play? That is the biggest disrespect ever you could say to any footballer.

"It is astonishing, it's disappointing. All I can say is that I don't think anyone will understand how much it means to me to play football."

Sturridge has been plagued by injuries for more than 18 months and his latest absence sparked wild rumours that he did not want to play because of his religion.

He said: "It is surprising. I didn't know religion had anything to do with football."

Before he returned to action earlier this month there were reports Sturridge had grown tired of questions about his mentality and manager Jurgen Klopp speaking in public about how he deals with pain. But the former Chelsea frontman insists he does not want to leave Liverpool.

"Of course it's been a difficult time being injured but it's a part of football and now I'm looking forward to the future - of course with Liverpool," he said. "I have been pretty relaxed the whole time and I am happy here."

Another criticism of Sturridge during his time out with calf, thigh, hip, hamstring, foot and knee injuries is that he did not care and was happy to pocket the wage of over ￡100,000 a week from the five-year contract he signed last season. But he revealed he was suffering rather than "living it up" during his time out.

"I am very ambitious, very determined to help Liverpool have some success," he said. "I am totally focused and I want to be on the pitch playing in every game, just like every player wants to.

"And it hurts not being able to play. You have to be strong in those situations and it is important to understand that I am not at home chilling, I'm not going out with friends living life to the fullest when I am not playing.

"I am devastated when I am not playing. I am in my house. I'm not happy. I'm not stress free. I'm sitting in the stands devastated at watching my team-mates play.

"It hurts hearing what people have said second and third hand. A lot of the things people say about me aren't the truth.

"All I want to do is play football, help this team and have success - that's the most important thing to me. Nothing else matters."