London: Injury-stricken English footballer Daniel Sturridge has suffered a devastating blow as it emerged that he could be out of action until October.
The Liverpool striker had surgery on his left hip on Tuesday in New York but the severity of the problem means the 25-year-old will not be able to resume full training for four months, reports dailymail.co.uk.
This latest prognosis is a huge setback for Sturridge and his club manager Brendan Rodgers, piling pressure on Liverpool to sign a top-class striker this summer.
Sturridge's recovery will rule him out of the big kick-off on August 8 and four games for England.
It is possible he will not play in the Premier League until the beginning of October.
The surgery, which was performed by Dr Bryan T. Kelly, has been deemed a complete success by Liverpool's medical staff as it addressed a problem believed to be linked to Sturridge suffering so many issues with a thigh muscle.
Having been beaten to the signing of 25 million pounds Memphis Depay by Manchester United, Liverpool will have to redouble their efforts to bring in a striker to provide the firepower they have lacked this season.
Liverpool have a move lined up for Burnley's Danny Ings and promising Belgium international Divock Origi will move to the club this summer after completing a year on loan at Lille.
But managers Rodgers will need to recruit a high-class, experienced forward as well.
It has been a year to forget for Sturridge. When the campaign ends, he will have missed 41 of Liverpool's 58 games and only started seven matches because of a recurring thigh problem before the hip issue occurred in a game against Manchester United on March 22.
Sturridge was resigned to miss England's summer internationals against the Republic of Ireland and Slovenia but there is now no chance of him playing in the Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino (September 5) and Switzerland (September 8).
Liverpool will not rush Sturridge back so there must also be doubt over his availability for England's games against Estonia (October 9) and Lithuania (October 12).
If Liverpool finish in the top four this season, he would also miss the Champions League play-offs at the start of next season.
The former Chelsea forward uploaded a video to his official Instagram account of him doing some light work on an exercise bike just two days after his operation as he set out on the long road to recovery.
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