Sunderland’s academy has produced some solid Premier League talent over recent years, with Jordan Henderson their main export that has gone on to take the league by storm.
Having left the club in 2011, the Black Cats earned £20m which, at the time, seemed like a fine piece of business.
However, having gone on to succeed Steven Gerrard as captain of Liverpool, he will now go down in the history books at Anfield.
He has led his new side to victory in nearly every competition possible, with the Premier League, Champions League and both domestic cups under his belt, as well as a FIFA Club World Cup and a UEFA Super Cup.
Just 79 games at the Stadium of Light was modest compared to the phenomenal 455 games for the Reds, and he has overseen their growth from mid-table struggle to mentality monsters.
In his five appearances this season, he has averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.06 and has done well to establish himself as one of the more dependable Premier League midfielders.
During the year in which Liverpool won England’s top flight, the England international stepped his game up even further, raising his average match rating to 7.23 across his 30 league appearances in 2019/20. He also scored five goals and assisted four, which was impressive given how that is not normally his role.
Should Sunderland have kept Jordan Henderson?
The 32-year-old was just last year labelled an “immense captain” and “a real leader” by Leanne Prescott, who also cited his MBE as “richly deserved”.
Curtis Woodhouse also claimed that people won’t respect Henderson until he has retired, as he is a “proper all-round midfielder” and a “monster”.
It is impressive how much he has grown from the young Mackem lad playing for his boyhood club.
While £20m seemed like good money at the time, to see his growth as the Black Cats slumped down the divisions must have been a bitter pill to swallow for the club’s supporters.
As he geared up for his first of three Champions League finals – so far – the Wearside outfit had already been resigned to relegation to League One.
He could have captained Sunderland to glory, but instead, he led the revitalisation of Liverpool. They will surely regret the call to sell him now, with hindsight.
