Sunderland legend Michael Gray urges Newcastle to sign Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge

Former Sunderland defender Michael Gray has urged Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez to seal a deal for Liverpool outcast Daniel Sturridge this summer, reports talkSPORT.

England international Sturridge has found gametime hard to come by under Reds boss Jurgen Klopp this term, with the 27-year-old restricted to just five Premier League starts and a handful of other starts in domestic cup competitions.

And with just two goals in 573 minutes of league action this season, it looks like his stay at Anfield is coming to an end in the near future, and one club urged to make a move for the forward is Newcastle as they look to bolster their squad ahead of their immediate return to the Premier League next season.

Benitez’s Magpies secured promotion from the Championship on Monday night after breezing past Preston 4-1 at St James’ Park, and 42-year-old Gray, who made 363 appearances for their arch rivals Sunderland between 1992 and 2004, believes Sturridge would be perfect for the Magpies.

He said: ‘Newcastle would snap your hands off right now for somebody like Daniel Sturridge.

‘He is a goalscorer who is going to get you 15, 20 goals a season. They might only get 25 to 30 games out of him at a push but those 15, 20 goals will keep you in the Premier League for another season.

‘They should absolutely go and get him.’

Despite a frustrating campaign at Anfield, the 27-year-old still holds a prolific goal-scoring record for Liverpool, as he has netted 60 times in just 115 games for the Merseyside outfit, as well as laying on 21 assists.

And with Dwight Gayle the Magpies’ main forward and scorer of 22 goals this term, Benitez will certainly need to strengthen his offensive options, as the other three main striker options of Daryl Murphy, Ayoze Perez, and Aleksandar Mitrovic have added just 17 league goals between them thus far.

Clearly, the North East giants need to bolster their ranks ahead of next term, and there’s little doubt that Sturridge would do just that.