Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has taken a dig at big-spending Manchester City after losing Danny Sturridge as a teenager.
Sturridge has been key to Liverpool's 100 per cent record so far this season.
Rodgers said: "Daniel has been excellent since he came here. He's scored 16 goals in 20 games, but he also knows it's about the team. He has this myth around him that he is arrogant, a difficult boy, but he is actually one of the nicest boys I've met.
"When he was at Man City he was a top young talent, the best No.9 in European football as a young player. He loved everything about the City and he wanted to be a hero there, but then they got all the money and he didn't get a chance.
"So he went to Chelsea, scoring loads of goals in training and practice games, but not getting a chance there, either.
"I told him when he came here that I needed him to commit himself to the cause and that we would make him the best he can be. He understands that he is the king of his destiny."
