Cape Town - Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed the club are currently in talks with Daniel Sturridge over a new and improved deal.
The England international has quickly become a star player at Anfield following his arrival from Chelsea some 18 months ago, with his 22 Premier League goals last term helping the Reds to a runners-up finish.
However, the forward has been sidelined through injury since August, when he suffered a groin strain while training with England, but Rodgers has confirmed the Merseysiders are keen to tie him down to another long-term deal.
“There are talks ongoing with his representatives but there is no more news other than that," the boss said in a brief statement.
Rodgers will be hoping Sturridge can play some part in this weekend's league encounter against West Brom, but the forward will not feature for England during their upcoming European Championship qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia.
Rodgers said: “I have been in communication with Roy (Hodgson, England boss). We spoke at length [on Wednesday] on the situation. It was amicable, there was no issue.
“Every individual player you have to look at, every player is different. I respect that he has work to do internationally but my thoughts are with the Liverpool players and what their needs are.
“We agreed it was probably too soon for Daniel to meet up with England, irrespective of whether he was involved this weekend or not. He has not trained with the team at all since his injury and it probably was not the right time for him to go.
"He's had a grade one injury for four weeks, which is a long time, and my focus is now getting him to play for Liverpool.”