Jordan Henderson is closing on a move to Sunderland’s Premier League rivals Brentford
It was for many one of the no-brainers of the summer transfer window.
An emotional return for Jordan Henderson to his boyhood club, and for Sunderland the huge addition of such an experienced player to their young dressing room adjusting to the challenge of the Premier League. So with Henderson closing in on a move to Brentford, why does it feel like this one never really got off the ground despite the seemingly obvious upside for both parties?
Sunderland were of course aware of Henderson's likely availability this summer, with the 35-year-old almost leaving Ajax in January for Monaco. They knew they would need to bolster their midfield ranks and the appeal of a player who has played at such a high level speaks for itself.
Perhaps the simplest way to explain why a move never progressed is that at this point, neither is interested in making a move based on sentiment. In playing regularly for a team that finished second in the Eredivisie last season, Henderson demonstrated that he still has a lot of top-level football in him and there was interest from some top European clubs. FC Porto, now managed by Francesco Farioli and with whom Henderson forged a close bond at Ajax, were believed to be one of the potential options. Henderson has also been given a huge incentive by the (relatively) new England boss Thomas Tuchel. Having been named in Tuchel's early squads, he now knows he has a big chance of making it to the final squad next summer. Following Christian Norgaard's departure for Arsenal, there is now a clearly defined role for him at Brentford both on and off the pitch at Brentford. It's a move that makes sense as he moves into the next stage of his career.
The options on the table for Henderson tell you what a big commitment signing Henderson would have been for Sunderland, if indeed he had ultimately been keen on going down that road. Sunderland have learned their own lessons about letting sentiment rule in the transfer market, with the move to bring Jermain Defoe back to the club in 2022 backfiring. Defoe returned on a wave of excitement but without an obvious pathway to the team or a clear role within it. Before long he had announced his retirement and Sunderland walked a tightrope for the rest of the campaign, where for large periods they were then one injury away from having to try and land their play-off place without a recognised striker. They were fortunate, in the end, that it did not prove to be a very costly mistake in their bid to get out of League One. Now of course, there are massive differences between the two cases. Defoe arrived having been out of the picture at Rangers for some time, clearly struggling to build his match sharpness mid season. Henderson has been playing regularly at a very high level and his path to the first team was more obvious with Jobe Bellingham departing and Sunderland looking to adjust to Premier League level.
Sunderland, though, have ultimately gone down a different road. They will back Chris Rigg and Dan Neil to step up and there is of course Enzo Le Fée to spearhead their creative efforts a little further forward. Promotion to the Premier League has allowed Sunderland and their head coach Régis Le Bris to move for two midfielders who they have admired for a long time in Noah Sadiki and Habib Diarra, players who still have a lot of room to grow and thus a significant potential resale value. While there is an acknowledgement behind the scenes that experience is needed in a young dressing room, steps were already being made to address that by the time Henderson's departure from Ajax was confirmed: Reinildo Mandava will bring years of top-tier experience with him.
There remains a lot of mutual respect between the parties, Henderson was there as Sunderland booked their return to the Premier League at Wembley and for their part, Sunderland's hierarchy recognise that the midfielder embodies so much of what they are building in terms of their academy and the spirit of the first time. For now the feeling seems to have been that it is best to leave at that. Whether Sunderland are deemed to have made the right call will ultimately depend on the midfielders they have invested in and how they adjust to the Premier League.
Continue Reading