Daniel Sturridge injury: Liverpool want loanee Divock Origi back - but face £5m fee

French side aim to keep forward they sold to the Reds for £10m in the summer for the full year's loan,
not hand him back in January

Brendan Rodgers wants Divock Origi on board in January to help solve Liverpool’s striking crisis.

But it is likely to cost the Reds up to an additional £5million to release Origi from his one-year loan back to previous club Lille on top of the £10m deal they agreed with the French side last summer.

Daniel Sturridge had a scan on Wednesday after a recurrence of his thigh injury which had contributed to him being out of club action since August, and the Kop club expect him to be out until the New Year.

Liverpool have managed a paltry 14 goals this season, and Rodgers wants to bring forward Origi’s arrival from Lille.

Lille insist the Belgium international striker - who has not scored a league goal since late September - will remain on loan with them until the end of the season, as agreed with the Reds under the terms of his summer transfer.

Liverpool want to review that agreement and are prepared to offer Lille a substantial payment in January to get their hands on the 20-year-old earlier.

Despite Lille’s resistance in public, Liverpool hope they will be more amenable in private, particularly as the Ligue 1 side could have little to play for after January because of their disappointing form so far.

Origi was quoted last week as saying he would like to move to Anfield when the transfer window opens, claiming he has become “frustrated” at Lille.

Rodgers feels the player could make an impact at Liverpool in the second half of a season in which Reds strikers Mario Balotelli, Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini have not managed a single Premier League goal between them.

The new Sturridge injury that has spurred Liverpool into action is to the same muscle he hurt training with England at the start of September.

The hitman, who scored 24 goals last season, was out for six weeks with that problem, before being hit by a calf injury when on the verge of a comeback, and Liverpool fear he will be sidelined for a similar length of time now.

Sturridge, who has not played for his club since the August 31 win at Tottenham, will miss the Reds’ two remaining Champions League group games and also their clash with arch-rivals Manchester United in mid-December.

His third injury of the campaign is a hammer blow to their hopes of reviving a flagging season.