Yep, we're getting to that time of the year again. Transfer silly season is the best kind of season, if you're the sort of person who enjoys being lied to 80 percent of the time and having to try to figure out what's true and what's not. I don't begrudge the media one bit, of course -- they're generally soulless entities who can't be held responsible for holding fast to things like 'integrity' and 'ethics' and 'common sense'.
Then again, it's not like I have the common sense bit down either, but at least I'll try.
So, the latest news is the idea that Daniel Sturridge could very well be heading to Liverpool in the first week of the January window, which, last I checked, ends seven weeks from now. That's not a whole lot of time. The Reds, who need a striker only slightly less than Chelsea do, are apparently willing to pay £15 million for the England international.
Why doesn't this make sense?
- The obvious one is that Daniel Sturridge isn't worth £15 million. Even under the most favourable conditions, which involve him having a year and a half left on his contract come January (which nobody can find any hard evidence of, incidentally), on his current form Sturridge's valuation would have difficulty cracking eight figures.
- The next one is that Sturridge is always on fairly high wages and will be looking for either higher still or more playing time at centre forward. Since he's not good enough to unseat Luis Suarez, that leaves the 'more money' option. And Chelsea pay much better than the Reds do.
- Chelsea minus Sturridge have one centre forward, and I think it's fair to say at this point that trusting Torres to do anything is a mark of insanity. In order for a Sturridge sale to happen, Chelsea would first have to bring in reinforcements.
Might this happen anyway? Sure. Strange things happen in January. But failing to discuss the three key reasons that the reported Sturridge transfer might not work is some pretty spectacular work. Forget elephants in the room -- the Mirror is studiously ignoring a veritable herd of pachyderms dancing about the place.