Jordan Henderson could have an emotional homecoming at the Stadium of Light, but Sunderland must not give up on their current crop of young players. The 34-year-old has had a glittering career at the pinnacle of club football since leaving Sunderland for Liverpool in the summer of 2011. Henderson, a graduate of the Academy of Light, enjoyed two successful seasons in the Premier League with his boyhood club before joining Liverpool for £16 million, where he led the team back to glory.
He was tipped as a potential replacement for Steven Gerrard at the time, and he went on to achieve the one feat that the iconic midfielder had famously failed to accomplish: captaining the Reds to the Premier League championship. They won their first Premier League title in the 2019/20 season, one year after Henderson led them to a historic UEFA Champions League victory over Tottenham Hotspur.
He has had a difficult time since his historic twelve-year spell with Liverpool ended last summer. Henderson made the contentious decision to reunite with Gerrard at Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq, but he only stayed for six months before returning to Europe to join Ajax in January. However, nine months later, Henderson has only made 16 appearances in the Eredivisie, implying that he may be packing his bags again soon. Sunderland connected with a potential Jordan Henderson comeback.
Henderson appears to be surplus to needs in the Dutch capital, having made only two league starts this season under new manager Francesco Farioli. As a result, according to a recent article in The Sun, Henderson could be looking for a January exit just a year after arriving. According to the article, some Premier League clubs have been made aware of his prospective availability, while major Championship clubs, including Sunderland, are considering a loan transfer.
The Black Cats have had a blistering start to the new Championship season under Regis Le Bris, who has led them to the top of the table after nine matches and is finally seeing the fruits of his labor in terms of recruiting, developing, and retaining a young core to the squad. Potential Jordan Henderson-Sunderland reunion could be bittersweet.
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman were both chastised for emphasizing a youth-focused approach to squad recruitment above collecting well-versed senior leadership and experience during the previous season, when Sunderland finished 16th.
Sunderland’s top brass have implemented a progressive and long-term strategy that includes signing young players at a reasonable cost, primarily from lesser-known abroad markets, and entrusting them with first-team opportunities in the hope of increasing resale value later on. They have had the youngest squad in the Championship in terms of average age over the last two seasons, and their perseverance is now paying off.
Sunderland’s explosive start to the season has been aided in large part by an indispensable midfield trio consisting of Jobe Bellingham, Chris Rigg, and Daniel Neil, all of whom are 22 years old or younger. Indeed, the former two are still in their teens and appear to be the Sunderland players most likely to command high prices at some point in the future, and the club cannot afford to impede the growth of their valuable assets with the entrance of a player in his twilight. Meanwhile, Neil and Rigg are homegrown academy products who are now among the best midfielders in the Championship.
its recent improvement reflects how well Sunderland has done with its academy. Of course, given the sentimentality of the move, many Sunderland fans would like to see Henderson return. He is still highly regarded by supporters today, and finishing his playing career at his boyhood club would be a suitable storybook ending.
The midfielder would provide second-to-none experience, leadership, and know-how by Championship standards, having earned his stripes at football’s highest levels, and that could be a huge advantage for Sunderland both in the Championship and, hopefully, in the Premier League as well. They are eager about returning to the big time and have every possibility of doing so, and Henderson’s top-flight experience would be even more valuable if they were promoted.
Despite enduring a drastic fall from grace over the last twelve months or so, Henderson still possesses the requisite quality to flourish at second-tier level and, in that sense, it would represent a real coup to bring him back to the club. Doing so would come with many inherent positives, but if Sunderland are studying that option then they must not consider sacrificing any of their young midfield crop.
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