Henderson moved from Sunderland to Liverpool in 2011.
Former Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli has explained to Talksport how a conversation with then Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn convinced him to overpay for Jordan Henderson.
Comolli previously told the Liverpool Echo that Henderson’s signing cost him his job, however the 26-year-old has since blossomed into one of the Premier League’s finest in his position.
Henderson, who is already Liverpool’s captain, is set to don the armband for England in Slovenia on Tuesday night in the absence of Wayne Rooney.
And Comolli is not at all surprised by the midfielder’s ascent since he arrived at Anfield from Sunderland in a deal worth a reported £20 million (BBC) despite being barely out of his teens.
“We pushed the boat out for him,” the Frenchman told Talksport. “We had a budget in mind and I kind of decided to go over the budget by a million-and-a-half – a bit more actually.
“In the negotiations, Niall Quinn told me one thing that triggered something in my head. He said that in one of the derby games against Newcastle he misplaced a free-kick straight into the stands and took a lot of stick from the fans. And he said that the week after the game he took about 300 free-kicks on his own just to make sure it would not happen again.
“And I thought somebody who is so dedicated – first of all somebody who hates to fail, that was a strong sign to me of leadership – and somebody who is so committed to improving day to day, that’s worth another million-and-a-half.”
Henderson, who helped Liverpool to the 2012 League Cup in his first season on Merseyside, has racked up 221 Reds appearances, in which he has scored 23 goals and made another 35.
The boyhood Sunderland fan signed for the Mackems as an eight-year-old and rose through the ranks at the Stadium of Light, making his first team debut a decade later.
Tuesday’s game represents Henderson’s 30th cap for England and he will become the 11th Liverpool player to lead the Three Lions.
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