Sturridge set on Chelsea return

Published Feb. 2, 2011 7:15 a.m. ET

foxsports

Fernando Torres completed a British record £50million transfer from Liverpool to Chelsea at the same time as Sturridge was putting the finishing touches to his move to Bolton on loan until the end of the season. With Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou also competing for places up front at Stamford Bridge, it is perhaps not surprising that Sturridge has had limited opportunities since his switch from Manchester City 18 months ago. But the 21-year-old is adamant his time will come, saying: "I'm not worried about Torres coming in. I believe in myself. I'm not worrying about any players the club signs because it's a world-class club with world-class players. "I think Didier and Nico are coming towards the end of their careers now and we needed to replace them at some point. It's great that we've signed Fernando Torres, he's a great player." Until the end of the season, Sturridge's task is to take advantage of the opportunities afforded to him at Bolton, but the England Under-21 forward fully expects to be heading back to Chelsea in the summer. "I don't think Chelsea are going to let me leave even if I was interested in going," he continued. "They made it quite clear they weren't going to entertain a transfer, and in the beginning I wasn't allowed to go on loan. "I'm a Chelsea player and I love Chelsea. I've come to Bolton to further my career and gain first-team experience, and I'm sure the manager here will help me to achieve that goal. "It'll be a great period here for me but then I'll go back to Chelsea and try to further my career there." There were rumours that Sturridge would be offered to Liverpool as part of the deal taking Torres in the other direction but he insisted that was never on the cards. He added: "I was a bit surprised with the stuff about me going to Liverpool because Chelsea had told me from day one that I wasn't part of that deal and they weren't going to allow me to leave, so that was never the case." Sturridge is set to make his Bolton debut in Wednesday night's Barclays Premier League meeting with Wolves at the Reebok Stadium, and Wanderers boss Owen Coyle is hoping he can prove as valuable an addition as last season's loan star Jack Wilshere. The Scot accepts, though, that signing another of England's brightest young talents means the prospect of turning the deal into a permanent one at the end of the spell is a very slim one. He said: "I see no reason why Daniel can't come and have the same impact (as Wilshere), and if he does that then not only Chelsea but all the elite clubs are going to sit up and say, 'What a fantastic player, he is ready to play for the top clubs week in, week out'. "If the question was today, would I love to sign Daniel Sturridge permanently, the answer to that is yes. But after his loan spell, do I believe I'll be able to, I think the answer to that will be no, because of how well I believe he'll do."