JORDAN Henderson will run out for England Under-21s tomorrow with speculation over a move to Liverpool refusing to go away.
Sunderland’s in-demand midfielder is in line to win his seventh cap for Stuart Pearce’s side against Norway in Southampton, before boarding the plane for the European Championships in Denmark. And, despite the club’s best attempts to bat back links with the Merseyside giants, the Reds’ pursuit looks like being a slow-burner for some time yet.
Henderson joins Danny Welbeck – who spent last season on loan with the Black Cats – in the squad for tomorrow’s St Mary’s clash, with club manager Steve Bruce once again forced to contend with reports linking his star men with moves away from the Stadium of Light.
Rumours of Henderson heading for the North West are nothing new, although the pace being gathered by the current batch will once again have supporters on edge as Kenny Dalglish looks to breathe further life into his rejuvenated Liverpool squad.
And while neither club has gone public on any potential deal, the widely-reported interest from Dalglish in Black Cats skipper Lee Cattermole has further added to the sense of
unease on Wearside. The combative midfielder has been the subject of sustained speculation, with an Anfield switch being touted just two seasons after following Bruce to the club from the DW Stadium.
Clauses in the former Wigan man’s contract are understood to be increasing the likelihood of movement, leaving his manager with the task of protecting his current crop before looking to add.
The latest round of rumour-mongering has seen the Black Cats linked with Manchester United pair Wes Brown and Darron Gibson (pictured right), as the summer sales get under way.
Gibson, at 23, could arguably represent the better long-term prospect, with the Republic of Ireland international having already made inroads into the senior side at Old Trafford on occasion.
The experienced presence of Brown at the back would almost certainly be an attractive proposition for Bruce, with the 31-year-old former England man now an increasingly fringe figure at the Champions League finalists.
But with the transfer market only slowly starting to click into gear, those hoping for a quick start to the recruitment process look like being disappointed.
Passing the two-year mark as Sunderland manager yesterday, Bruce will be anxious to improve on a record which has seen him win just 27 of his 84 games in the hot-seat. The 50-year-old will not have been overly endeared by comments from Fabio Capello yesterday, with the England manager once again extolling the virtues of Darren Bent’s mid-season switch to Aston Villa.
The striker has knocked nine goals in during his 16 games since moving clubs, and will be in the mix for today’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland at Wembley.
Capello once again seemingly credited his front man’s recent form with his switch to the manager-less Midlanders, saying: “Sometimes it’s important which team you play in, and the relationship with the manager, the private life.
“It’s impossible to know the future. It’s important for us that Bent has improved a lot, and he is scoring a lot of goals.”
