Stewart Downing has lifted the lid on a heart-to-heart chat with Jordan Henderson that helped convince the Liverpool captain to fight for his place at Anfield, while the ex-Reds star compared youngster Harvey Elliott to Raheem Sterling. 'The transfer deadline was a couple of days away and there had been rumours of Jordan going there with Clint Dempsey coming the other way,' Downing told The Athletic. He told me that he wanted to be able to say one day that he only ever played for Sunderland and Liverpool. However, Downing advised Henderson to stay in Liverpool and continue to fight for his placeThe 31-year-old has gone onto win the Champions League and Premier League as captain'I told him, "Well, there's your answer. Henderson has gone onto star for Jurgen Klopp's side, leading the club's resurgence to the summit of English and European football.

Source: Daily Mail July 17, 2021 22:18 UTC