Fernando Torres or Daniel Sturridge? – The £50 Million Question
Fernando Torres or Daniel Sturridge? It’s the question on everybody’s lips in the world of football right now and will almost certainly be playing on one particular manager’s mind in the run-up to next season’s Premier League season.
When you have players of the caliber of Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Saloman Kalou hanging around the changing room it is undoubtedly not easy being a Chelsea manager nowadays. For the new Chelsea manager whoever he may be, the job has been made a great deal tougher following the much disputed £50 million purchase of Spanish starlet Fernando Torres, which has resulted in just a solitary goal in 14 club appearances for Chelsea this season.
In stark contrast, Chelsea’s loaned out striker Daniel Sturridge has scored an astounding 8 goals in only 12 Premier League games for Bolton Wanderers. Chelsea’s problem therefore, is open for all to see. With Ancelotti seeing the gloomy sight of the exit door, his successor will have to make the tricky decision as to who will prop up his front line in August.
The selection of Fernando Torres would only be for one of two reasons. The 27 year old Spaniard has hardly set the score sheets alight since his January move from Liverpool but his record on Merseyside was one to behold scoring an incredible 65 goals in just over 100 appearances during 4 successful seasons in Red. Proof that “El Nino” (The Kid in Spanish) is a constant threat despite his current blip in form. The second reason is simple. Chelsea have not only spent a club record, but a British transfer record fee for Torres and as a result would be left severely embarrassed if he was to be dropped should the Spaniard fail to deliver the goods.
On the other hand, the West Londoners have a growing Premier League phenomenon in Daniel Sturridge on their books. The 21 year old has stormed into the headlines for all the right reasons, unlike Torres, in the past 4 months following a scoring streak to rival any other during the back end of this season.
With Sturridge arriving at Stamford Bridge back in 2009 from Manchester City as a free agent, the £3.5 million Chelsea had to pay City in compensation comes at a snippet of the megabucks splashed out on his Chelsea counterpart. If the Englishman was to repeat his scoring feat in Chelsea colors next season, Roman Abramovich will be smiling all the way on the road to success and silverware by May. Sturridge would surely be a gamble but is he a gamble worth taking?
