As Liverpool drew up their transfer plans last summer, the name of Mario Götze, the Borussia Dortmund wunderkind and the crown jewel of Germany’s emerging generation, was raised as a putative target. Should the club move heaven and earth to tempt him to Anfield? No need, came the reply. Jordan Henderson would do just as well.
Hard as it is to believe now, after a season in which Henderson’s stock has plummeted almost by the week, there was a time when the 21-year-old was that highly regarded.
Perhaps not by Steve Bruce and Niall Quinn, who reportedly could scarcely hide their glee when Damien Comolli, then the Liverpool director of football, offered Sunderland £16 million for a midfield player with one full season of Barclays