Daniel Sturridge 'Happy' At Liverpool, Refutes Summer Transfer Speculation

Daniel Sturridge fielded questions from the media at a pre-Augsburg press conference Wednesday. Here’s a partial transcript of what the Liverpool striker had to say:

Reporter: As well as dealing with your recovery, there’s recently been speculation about your future. What did you make of it and, overall, what was the time out like for you?

Sturridge: I think it’s important to worry about the present. Of course, it’s been a difficult time being injured, but it’s part of football. Now I am looking forward to the future, of course with Liverpool. There’s not really much to worry about or stress about in the situation — I’m pretty relaxed and I’ve been relaxed the whole time. I am happy here.

Reporter: With you being on social media, you might be aware of some of the things that people have said about you. Some of the suggestions have been that you haven’t wanted to play — there has even been the suggestion that your religious beliefs (might be a reason). I know that’s nonsense, but how does that questioning make you feel?

Sturridge: I don’t listen to social media, so I’m not aware to be honest. It’s surprising. I didn’t know religion had anything to do with football, firstly. As a child, you don’t think about those things. To say a player doesn’t want to play is the biggest disrespect you could ever say to any individual footballer, to be honest. It’s astonishing and disappointing, (from) whoever is saying it. It’s very disappointing to hear that from whoever says it, but it’s football and people are entitled to their opinions. All I can say is I don’t think anybody will understand how much it means to me to play football. As I said, I will continue to do my best and focus on playing for Liverpool Football Club — and that’s all that matters.