Sunderland Could Dial 'N' For Ngog As Henderson Heads To Liverpool

Well, it's happened, pretty much, not much more we can say other than that really. Jordan Henderson has eventually left for Liverpool in a deal which is said to be 'worth £20m'... Which I guess is based on your valuation of the possible incoming of David Ngog, who looks like he might come in the other direction as part of a player + cash swap deal.

Henderson has been over to Melwood for a medical, and video of him looking pretty cheery in Liverpool garb means a deal will be signed any minute now you'd imagine.

Its only been about a week or speculation, but it feels like it's rumbled on forever with stories here there and everywhere hashed, rehashed and hased thricely to the point were we're all just bored of the entire thing and wanted something to happen one way or another.

So here we are, without Henderson. A few thoughts on the entire situation, which may or may not make sense, but hear me out...

First up the way it has come about... Are we inclined to believe this is all engineered by the shady sounding Wasserman Group who Jordan recently turned to to become his agents. The Wasserman Group of course also had/have Darren Bent, and we know how that worked out.

How much involvement have WMG (Wasserman Media Group) had on all this? I'd say an extensive one. A look through their client list (how up to date I don't know) but in the list I've read it's packed with players who regularly move around... Robbie Keane, Emile Heskey, Marcus Bent, Nick Barmby and so on. The one's on the list who  have stayed at clubs for quite a while all seem on pretty sweet deals. Steven Gerrard & Jamie Carragher won't anywhere, whilst Jonathan Woodgate, Michael Owen and Shay Given are more than content to sit on the bench and collect their sizeable cheques.

Notable SAFC and former SAFC on the WMG (SFX) list include Anton Ferdinand, Andy Reid, Bolo Zenden & Michael Chopra.

Ok secondly, the change shown by Henderson - depending on if you believe what you read - the once contented and dilligent hard worker, born and bread SAFC and all that... seemed very quiet on all this, when if he wanted to stay, he had ample opportunity to say "Thanks, but there's still lots to learn before I join the big leagues"

Of course thats just speculation, but the glowing terms in which Steve Bruce, Niall Quinn and anyone who has ever met him suggest that we by no means wanted to lose him, and Jordan will have been given the option to quite easily say no. Heads have clearly been turned.

Thirdly... The possibility of David Ngog thrown in as a sweetner is to me an alright deal. I know SAFC fans will be quick to say "He's shit, not good enough etc"... From my stand point thats an unfair judgement. He fits the bill in a few ways for us.

He's young enough to have a resale value which the likes of Jay Bothroyd or Zamora wouldn't for essentially the same player.

Also, as much as we'd love to be in the position of Liverpool etc, he's held to a different standard at Liverpool, and much of his malignment came from simply 'Not being Torres'... Is he good enough for Liverpool and anyone chasing the Champions League? No, probably not. Is he good enough for other Premier League teams lower down the scale? Totally. He could well flourish with a new start. As a collective, we've not got the greatest eye for judgement... Danny Welbeck was 'shite' and 'no better than Martyn Waghorn'... Titus Bramble was a joke... need we go on?

It's unfair to judge based on the occasional Grand Slam Sunday and Europa League games. Of course, we need a striker too, and he won't be the only one, nor be the one we pin our hopes on for next season.

Lastly, the precidents of selling Henderson - A stigma of a selling team? Maybe. Another view point would be we're not the type of club to accept people who don't want to be here. Potential signings and indeed current players - If you're coming for the money or to pick up a cheque with an eye on elsewhere, don't bother, you'll be found out.

Sure, I'd loved us to hang on to him, and I do believe still Jordan will develop into a fantastic player. I wish it was here, but when all things are considered if he thinks it's elsewhere off you go. I'd rather we had players who want to stay, and want to play. Jordan has been given ample time in the week to say he'd prefer to stay, and we haven't heard a peep.

It's not quite the same situation, but look at when Wayne Rooney left Everton in his developmental years, they got by and sold when his price was high and he didn't want to be there despite the fandom. They were in the Champions League (briefly) the next season, and have flirted with Europe as they were before and after.

Should we have held on? Thats another story really as we don't know how it would play out. Arsenal have held on to Cesc Fabregas for a few years despite Barcelona's interest, and have suffered a few lacklustre performances whislt his heart isn't entirely there. Luckily for Arsenal they have an abundance of quality players, we however, cannot afford to carry passengers.

If we held on, who's to say we wouldn't be left in a Kevin Phillips situation. We held on, suffered the poorer performances, and eventually sold him for a pittance. Strike while the iron is hot.

Is being a selling team a stigma anyway? Other teams get by fine so why not us? Porto, Ajax etc are constantly rebuilding and constantly more succesful than ourselves. I dunno, it's just a thought to bear in mind, let's bring this thing to a close...

Thanks for the efforts Jordan, we're sure you'll develop into a fine player, but bigger and better players than you have left. We'll cope.

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