Former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge is a ‘humble’ man ready to fit in at his new club Perth Glory.
Former Liverpool and England forward Daniel Sturridge has promised to “leave his ego at the door” when he arrives in Australia to start his Perth Glory stint.
The Glory pulled off a major coup in signing 32-year-old Sturridge, a two-time UEFA Champions League winner who formed a lethal partnership with Uruguayan ace Luis Suarez at the Reds.
Glory fans will hope Sturridge can form a similarly prolific combination with Perth’s own Uruguayan marksman, Bruno Fornaroli.
Team man Sturridge said he would fit in with Glory coach Richard Garcia’s plans, vowing not to think he was bigger than the team.
“I’m looking forward to getting there and learning,” Sturridge said.
“I’m coming there humbly as a humble man, I leave my ego at the door, and coming in to just experience it and have a great time out there.
“I’m a player who the team has signed and it’s about me integrating into the team, not about the team working around me.
“In terms of one player carrying a team, I just don’t think in world football that’s possible, because everybody is needed.
“Whatever the club needs me to do, I’m happy to do it.
“Football is the most important thing. I’m not there for a holiday, I’m there to play football.”
Not that Sturridge is here yet, as he waits in England with his final for his visa to be approved before flying to Australia.
He is doing individual training with a coach and hasn’t played football since leaving Turkish club Trabzonspor in March 2020 when his contract was mutually terminated when he was banned from playing for four months for breaching betting rules.
But he insists he’s 100 per cent fit and will be in good shape when he starts training with Perth despite having to serve two weeks in hotel quarantine on his arrival in Australia.
“I haven’t really lost any fitness. I’ve lost weight. I’ve got probably more in shape outside of quarantine,” Sturridge said.
Despite his period away from the game, Sturridge said he had never lost his love for football.
“Being out for that amount of time and watching games, there was an element of me being like, ‘I want to get out there, I want to play’,” he said.
“But it was about choosing the right place and making the right decision.
“I felt that in my gut, it (joining Perth) was the right decision to make, and also once I spoke to a few people, they gave me a lot of assurances and made me feel that it would be an amazing experience.”
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