Dan Neil delivers Jordan Henderson to Sunderland transfer verdict after interesting Régis Le Bris chat

Dan Neil has spoken at length about Jordan Henderson and his view on Sunderland’s rumoured transfer interest in the former Liverpool man.

The 22-year-old Sunderland team captain started in the middle alongside Jobe and Chris Rigg as the Black Cats defeated Oxford United 2-0 at the Stadium of Light to move five points clear at the top of the Championship after three wins in six days under head coach Régis Le Bris.

Neil has been deployed as a number six under Le Bris as Sunderland’s pivot, with his midfield colleagues playing further forward. Indeed, the Black Cats head coach has pointed towards Henderson as someone his captain should look to emulate amid rumours of his return to the club.

“The gaffer's got ideas. He actually mentioned Jordan Henderson at Ajax, who plays in the six for Ajax and out of possession, dropping in and making it a back five,” Neil said after the game when asked about his role in the team under Le Bris.

He continued: “Because it's really tough to break down a back five, especially away from home. So I think you've seen glimpses in Hull City and Luton that I dropped into the back five. It was really tough for them to break me down and that's just a role that I need to keep working on and keep developing.

“I think at the end of the day, it's good for my development to learn this role and to keep improving every aspect of my midfield game. I feel like each week is getting better, each week I'm a bit more confident within the role. As long as I'm out there on the pitch, I'll play any role, as long as I'm helping the team to win the game.”

Henderson, who started his career at Sunderland before moving to Liverpool and winning the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield, Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, has been linked with a move back to Wearside in January.

When asked if he would like to play with Henderson at Sunderland one day amid rumours of a return to the club in January, Neil added: “Of course, yeah. He's a top-quality player. So whenever you get to play with top-quality players, you embrace it.”

“Yeah, he can come back if he wants,” Neil added with a smile on his face. “I think he's had ups and downs in his career, which is not refreshing to say because you don't want to see anyone have downs, but the fact that he was at Sunderland, got this big move to Liverpool, and it probably didn't work out for him initially, but he's went on to win everything that he could win in club football.

“Coming through the academy, you always keep a close eye on the academy products and how they're doing, and there are so many academy products from this club that have had really good careers, and I think the two Jordans (Henderson and Pickford) are the standard for that, and I think having that standard so high allows the likes of me and Riggy and Patto to keep striving because if they can do it, we can all do it at some point.

“They're really good role models for the lads that have come through. Because he had setbacks here as well, didn't he? And he learned his trade and took a bit of stick and kind of did what you're doing in many ways and played in different positions, things like that.

“I think being the captain of Liverpool tells you everything that you need to know about his character to go in and manage so many big personalities and big characters and big players, and at such a big club, I think that tells you everything you need to know about his character, and it's top.”

After the game Oxford United Neil revealed that he had met Henderson while Sunderland were still in League One for a coffee after the Black Cats man had been taken out of the team under then-head coach Alex Neil. Sunderland eventually went on to win promotion that season at Wembley in the play-off final against Wycombe Wanderers. Neil, however, did not feature at all during the game.

“A few years ago, when I got called up to England under 20s. I actually got his phone number off David Jones and I met him for a coffee at St George's,” Neil said. “It was actually when I got taken out of the team in League One with Alex Neil, and I just had a chat with him about what's happened when you've had setbacks in your career.

“He was really good. He gave me some really good advice. I was a little bit nervous to text him asking for a coffee. But to be fair, he replied to the message and I'm glad that I sent it and I met him because he gave us some really valuable advice that I still carry to this day.”

Asked what advice Henderson had given him, Neil said: “A lot of it was preparation, preparation through the week. Run more than anyone else, do more in the gym than anyone else, work on whatever you need to work on more than anyone else, and then there's no need to not feel confident going into the game because you know that you've worked all week for it. So that was the biggest one that he gave to me.”