Liverpool leading scorer Luis Suarez to shift position as £12m signing Daniel ... - Telegraph.co.uk

Rodgers said that the strategy had already been discussed with Suárez, who knows the impact Sturridge's arrival will have on his position within the side. "Luis will play for the common good of the team," the manager said. "I spoke with Luis at length on this subject a number of times. This has been the plan for a few months. When he played at Ajax he played in behind the central striker as a No 10, in between the lines.

"He also played as a reverse winger from the left side. He wasn't quite out wide, he was tucked in round the corner. Wherever he plays he will make the same movements and he will find the space because he is a world-class player. It is not a problem at all. It is never a problem having top players so don't talk about problems with players. We need good players."

Rodgers could have signed Sturridge last summer on a similar deal, but admitted he wanted time to assess if the player had the right mentality for a permanent move.

Since Liverpool agreed a fee with Chelsea over a month before the transfer window opened, it enabled Rodgers to make a thorough evaluation, meeting the player to satisfy himself he had the appetite to succeed. It was during those conversations that Rodgers was convinced it was the right deal. "You need to look in the player's eyes and see if they have that hunger," Rodgers said. "He is coming off the back of being at a big club but one where he hasn't played. He is coming here with everything to prove.

"There is always a risk and doubts about any player. I have spoken to enough people who have worked with Daniel and you always have to do your homework. You are never going to be 100 per cent sure they will succeed, but you have that bit of thinking time to look around and see how they are going to fit in and then when you meet the player take it from his side.

"Any player coming here has to buy into the culture of this football club and any player coming here has to come in for the common good of the team. That is vital and there was never any issue there. He is 23 years old and he is going to come in with wonderful talent. You put him in the group and all of a sudden you get stature and presence and you will see when he plays that there are not many quicker than him. He will give us that extra power up there as well."

Rodgers believes Sturridge's career stalled at Chelsea because he joined at the wrong time. "Sometimes young players make the wrong moves. I don't mean wrong move in terms of club, but the wrong football move. He went to Chelsea where Didier Drogba was arguably the best striker in the world so he is not going to climb in front of him. You go in at 20 years of age and hope you are going to progress, but he has only done it at Bolton because they are the only team that played him."