Daniel Sturridge: Steven Gerrard doesn't like the nickname I've given him

Daniel Sturridge and Steven Gerrard

Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has revealed the funny nickname that he calls his captain, Steven Gerrard.

Sturridge has been in phenomenal form this season and has scored 18 goals in the Premier League to leave only Luis Suarez ahead of him in the charts.

He has been lauded and praised on a weekly basis throughout the season and will go to Brazil in the summer as England’s main centre forward.

As he stood so close to the World Cup trophy – but couldn’t touch it – he told the press of the nickname he’s handed Gerrard – James Bond – who he is desperate to see lift the World Cup this year.

“That’s what I call Steve Gerrard,” explained England hitman ­Sturridge. “He doesn’t like it, but I call him that because he can do everything.

“On a day-to-day basis in training, you have to see it to believe what he can do with a football.”

Sturridge signed for Liverpool in January 2013 and has been flying ever since. He was held back at Chelsea as he was not given the opportunities he has been at Liverpool, something that really hurt him

“I just wanted to grab it, but FIFA only let you touch the World Cup if you’ve won it and I didn’t want to get locked up.

“It was strange because you see the World Cup as a kid and you dream about winning it – and you always imagine what it would be like to win it and touch it.

“But there was a time, only a couple of years ago, when I was scared I would be lost to the game. I had fallen out of love with ­football when I could not get in the team at Chelsea. To stand so close to the World Cup, in the hope I will be playing for it this summer, made me appreciate the journey I’ve been on.”