Man United makes sense for Liverpool's Sturridge, even if it makes blood boil

Soccer is religion in North West England, just as it is many places across the world. And where there is religion there is also sacrilege.

Keep that in mind. Because to rescue its scoring woes, Manchester United may need to desecrate one of its unwritten transfer policies.

United has not done direct transfer dealings with regional rival Liverpool since 1964, when Phil Chisnall was sold to the Reds for £25,000, a modest sum even by those days’ standards. But with the club exhausting itself trying to score goals on a consistent basis, United would do well to pursue Daniel Sturridge.

Yes. Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge.

The 26-year-old England international has been ravaged by injuries the past couple of seasons, casting a pall over his breakout first year and a half with Liverpool. Over that time he scored 35 goals in 49 games and formed a feared strike partnership with Luis Suarez.

Suarez has since moved on to Barcelona, where he’s currently rewriting the record books, while Sturridge’s body has betrayed him. The ailments’ reach reads like a nightmare: knee, hip, hamstring, thigh. At this point, it’s little embellishment to suggest it’s harder to name body parts Sturridge hasn’t injured than ones he has.

His inability to stay healthy has drawn heaps of criticism, which reportedly has him eyeing a move away from Anfield this summer. Tabling bids for Sturridge would certainly represent a risk. At this point, it’s one United should take.

If there’s an upside to Sturridge’s fragility, it’s that he’d be on the market at a cut rate. When healthy, it’s been suggested he could fetch up to £60 million. Liverpool knows no one will come close to paying that, and his valuation could be halved, if not pushed down around £20 million.

That’s not a ton to pay for someone of Sturridge’s prodigious talent. Plus, there are a number of reasons to believe Sturridge would succeed at Old Trafford.

For starters, Manchester United’s medical staff is widely respected, and health is indeed the greatest apprehension in bringing Sturridge aboard. No doctor can make you invincible, and Liverpool’s staff is perfectly fine, but United’s Steve McNally is one of the most respected physios in the sport and has been with the club for nearly a decade. During that time, United’s facilities have become some of the most cutting-edge in Europe.

So Sturridge would stand as good a chance at staying healthy with United as anybody in England. And oh yeah, the goals.

Sturridge has played alongside United stalwart Wayne Rooney on international duty, so it won’t be hard to fit the two together. At 6-foot-2 with technique and pace, Sturridge could play ahead of Rooney as the out-and-out No. 9 striker. He could also play alongside Rooney at the top of a 4-4-2 formation, which is where he thrived alongside Suarez.

United also has talent in wider areas to play off Sturridge, with Juan Mata enjoying a good run of form and youngster Jesse Lingard offering glimmers of potential. If Memphis Depay plays his way back into the first team going forward, that expands the threat.

Anthony Martial is the incumbent striker at Old Trafford, and he’s still promising at just 20 years old. But it seems prudent to boost depth by adding someone who could lead by example and help Martial's growth.

So Sturridge could prosper if Manchester United tempted Liverpool to sell. Then again, that is a giant, giant “if.”

The bitter blood between Manchester and Liverpool is rooted in competition for industry and affluence since the late 19th century, an ongoing skirmish between claimants to the title of the United Kingdom’s “Second City.”

Extended to the pitch, United and Liverpool have traded prolonged spells as the dominant club in England, with a combined 38 league titles and eight European championships. The race for success isn’t lost on the fans, whose behavior has been unsavory at times, nor is it lost on the players and coaches. Even Sir Alex Ferguson famously said his biggest challenge as a manager was “knocking Liverpool right off their [expletive] perch.”

United’s perch is wobbling. The retirement of Ferguson has unspooled in dizzying fashion into three fruitless years stewarded first by the overmatched David Moyes and now the discordant Louis van Gaal.

This is when clubs should get creative and rethink the way they’ve done things. Sturridge would be a risky, expensive gamble, but United has been throwing money all over the continent with middling results. So what’s the downside?

If Jose Mourinho does in fact become manager this summer, buying a Liverpool star and reviving his career would be the kind of under-the-skin move Mourinho has all but trademarked. New Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is sound in his business dealings and respectful of club tradition, but he also possesses the cockiness and confidence to believe he can win bigger without Sturridge.

Besides, there aren’t many other big clubs in England where Sturridge could go. Arsenal’s medical staff is dodgy. Manchester City has its eyes on bigger names. Chelsea sold Sturridge to Liverpool in the first place and doesn’t seem to want him back. At Tottenham, Sturridge would be stuck in the shadow of Harry Kane.

One scenario to watch is if former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers takes a job with a relegation-threatened club and keeps it in the Premier League. Rodgers could set his sights on reacquiring Sturridge in an effort to help that club ascend in the table next season.

But if Sturridge really wants to play with the big boys, Manchester United makes the most sense. It may be sacrilege. Sounds like a job for the Red Devils.