"I just like the kid, he's got an innocence about him that's rare these days — and Jordan can play, the kid's got a real chance."
Roy Keane in 2008, ahead of giving the then 18-year-old Jordan Henderson his senior debut for Sunderland. Two years down the line "the kid" may be significantly more streetwise having earned a call-up to Fabio Capello's England squad for this week's friendly against France, but Henderson retains a certain purity. "All Jordan cares about is football, he eats, sleeps and breathes it," says Steve Bruce, his current manager. "Long may that continue, but I have a feeling it will. He's never given anyone a moment's trouble and I wouldn't believe it if I heard he'd been caught up in something off the field."
With his father running his own double glazing company and his mother working as a fitness instructor, Henderson's teenage talent was bolstered by a solid middle-class background in Sunderland where he attended Farringdon Community Sports College.
Leisure time was spent cheering on the local team with both parents, first at Roker Park and, later, the Stadium of Light — although he did harbour a boyhood attraction towards Manchester United. "When I was little my heroes were David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Roy Keane," he says. "I"ve always liked the way Manchester United play the game." Unfortunately he was a little young to savour Bruce's Old Trafford pomp. "I'm sure he was very good though," he adds, diplomatically.
Henderson's own brand of adhesive first touch, vision, quick feet, pace, stellar passing and crossing ability and sure-footed tackling is allied to abundant energy. "He regularly covers 13km a game and rarely gives the ball away," says Bruce, who alternates between deploying the protege in central midfield and, more rarely, wide on the right.
"Jordan has everything you need from the modern-day player; he has a lovely feel for the ball but he's also already 6ft 2in and has terrific energy. He was the player who made the most impact on me when I arrived here and he's the player I've had most enquiries about."
Ten Premier League managers on nights off convened at Blackburn to watch Henderson when Sunderland recently drew at Ewood Park and he is understood to be on the radars of both Manchester United and Manchester City. Even so, despite 18 months worth of gloriously reliable performances for Bruce's team it took a strong showing and a wonderful scoring volley – a lack of goals is the biggest flaw in his game – for Stuart Pearce's England Under-21 side against Romania earlier this autumn for Henderson's potential to fully register with football fans outside the north east.
Like his native region's magnificent, but relatively little known coastline and countryside, Henderson proved a hidden treasure for a surprisingly long time. Considering that when Arsenal recently drew at the Stadium of Light he outshone the much vaunted Jack Wilshere this seems strange but Bruce puts it down to the game's geo-politics.
"I think it's fair to say that Jordan sometimes doesn't get the headlines he deserves," says Sunderland's manager. "Maybe that has something to do with where we are geographically."
It is left to Bruce to "big him up" and he certainly has no inhibitions about doing so. "Jordan has got a very, very bright future," enthuses the former Manchester United defender. "The sky's the limit. It would be unfair of me to liken Jordan to Ryan Giggs at this stage in his development but there are parallels — certainly Jordan is as important to us as the young Giggsy was to United."
Typically calm under pressure, such hype is unlikely to go to Henderson's head. Indeed the man dubbed "the Rokerite rocket" by Sunderland fans is highly self critical. "Midfielders don't come better than Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard," he says. "They can score 15-20 goals a season and that's what I need to start coming up with."
Bruce remains unabashed. "We've got the brightest young prospect in the British game in Jordan," he says. "He's certainly the best young British footballer there is. At 20 he's got the world at his feet. "He can keep the ball, he can tackle, he can pass, he can cross, he's comfortable in possession and he can score a goal. He needs to score more but they'll come, he hits the ball well."
Sunderland's manager scoffs at talk of £20m January bids. "£20m is not enough for Jordan," he says. "He's not for sale – unless someone like Real Madrid comes in and offers £30m; then we've got a problem."
