Liverpool striker, Daniel Sturridge, has been challenged, by his manager, Brendan Rodgers, to come back fitter and stronger. The England star flew out to the US to find the ultimate cure to a series of niggling injuries that have curtailed his season to appearing in just 18 of the team's 53 games, which included the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, in the FA Cup semi finals, at Wembley.

Rodgers has already given strong indications that he may have to looking elsewhere for a new striker after saying that the club need a consistent goal scorer who could perform “at the top level week-in-week-out.”

He said: “Daniel is not fit and once he can show that consistency and fitness, you can see in his performance level that it’s a high one. But he has missed a lot of the season so we need to assess it. Either way, if he’s not available, we need to have that support.

It’s been difficult for him as he is a good lad who wants to play and help the team but it’s been one of those seasons for him. He’s been very unfortunate and we’ll have to monitor day by day and see where he’s at.”

The club sent the Englishman to Boston, where he will visit the Boston Red Sox's surgeon, the baseball club owned by Liverpool owner, John W. Henry. There he will see Peter Asnis, who will "attempt to discover whether surgery will speed up Sturridge's recovery from a hip injury which has been an ongoing concern."

Sources suggest that the player will be placed on "a tailored fitness programme this summer in the hope of resolving his injury problems."

Sturridge is viewed as Liverpool's senior striker after the departure of Luis Suarez to Barcelona and the indifferent form of Mario Balotelli since his arrival from AC Milan.