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Having arrived at Anfield as a scrawny 20-year-old only just out of his teens, and for a substantial fee of £20m, the odds were stacked against Jordan Henderson from the very first day he set foot on Merseyside.
Who is this kid? Why did he cost us so much money?
Things got worse for the Sunderland academy graduate at the end of his first year as a Red.
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Despite winning the League Cup, Henderson suffered his first taste of harrowing defeat in a Liverpool shirt in the FA Cup final, losing 2-1 to Chelsea at Wembley.
It would become the start of a succession of heartbreaking cup final losses for the energetic midfielder, and having arrived at the club in a ‘banter’ period where flops such as Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing also turned up, he was unfairly tarnished with the same brush.
It was the Merseysiders’ pursuit of Fulham hitman Clint Dempsey that hit Henderson the hardest, mind you.
The Cottagers weren’t prepared to lose their star man easily, but proposed a swap deal involving the American and a then 22-year-old Henderson.
“Brendan called me in and said “Listen, this is the offer” and he asked me what I thought,” said Henderson.
“It implied to me that he would let me leave and it was up to me. I went back to my room. I shed a few tears. I ended up crying a little bit because it hurt so much. I had the game that night to think about it as well.”
Despite that setback, he stayed put at his own request.
Since then, another League Cup final loss has followed.
A Europa League final defeat has followed.
A Champions League final loss has been endured.
He even lost his place to Fabinho this season before a chat with Jurgen Klopp got him back in the side in a more advanced role.
Battling, committed performances have epitomised the 28-year-old’s time at the club; he suffered a serious looking whack to the knee early on in the 4-0 semi-final win over Barcelona, but told the doctors to ‘give him everything’ in order to keep him on the pitch.
The Liverpool captain has been through it all at Anfield since signing in 2011. Even now, some supporters believe he’s below the required standard despite wearing the armband.
Through hard graft, desire and a standout attitude, no one deserves success in Madrid tonight more than that scrawny, unassuming youngster who left his boyhood club to become a man at Liverpool.
