The two prized England Under 21 internationals Jordan Henderson and Phil Jones have recently moved from their respective clubs to two North West giants separated by the East Lancs road. As Liverpool were busy tying up a deal for Sunderland midfield all rounder Jordan Henderson, Manchester United were seemingly busy beating other Premier League heavyweights, including Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, to the signing of Blackburn Rovers defender Phil Jones.
The interest in both players has come about due to both players having fantastic seasons for their respective former clubs. Henderson in particular had a stellar season for the Black Cats, playing 37 games, scoring 3 goals and providing his team with 4 assists.
It was Henderson’s versatility that attracted the attention of Manchester City and Manchester United earlier in the season. When the transfer window reopened in January both Manchester clubs were said to be prepared to go to a bidding war of up to £25 million to secure the services of the Sunderland born youngster. Neither move ever materialised and Henderson continued to play in a Sunderland team that struggled towards the latter part of the season.
With only seven days of the transfer window gone, Liverpool pounced on their man. With details of the move being linked over social networking site, Twitter, it became clear the Reds were intending on bringing the youngster to Anfield. The move was finally announced two days later for a fee of around £16 million as the player jetted back to Denmark to meet up with the England Under 21 set up prior to opening match against Spain.
It was a similar set of circumstances for Blackburn centre back Phil Jones. Already in preparation for the opening encounter with favourites Spain, news broke of Manchester United having a bid accepted by his current employer. As Jones got permission from England Under 21 manager Stuart Pearce to leave their Danish base to head to Old Trafford to tie up a deal, reports where coming through that he had spurned both Arsenal and Tottenham.
Harry Redknapp confirmed this with an interview to Sky Sports. Redknapp explained that five top clubs had made offers to sign Jones and that he saw him as a future England defender and possibly an England captain.
Jones has become a sought after figure within the Premier League due to strong, impressive performances at the back for Rovers. A strong, dominating defender perfectly at home in a physical battle willing to throw his body on the line for the cause whilst also being able to use the ball at his feet. Usually deployed at centre half, Jones can also play as a defensive midfielder and this versatility, like Henderson, has earned him a £16 million move.
With two of the finest young English talent moving to top clubs at such as young age (Henderson is 20 and Jones 19) it has shown that there is bright, young home-grown prospects out there that the bigger clubs will look to pick up and will pay expensive amounts of money for them.
Surely this will give every other young English player in the Under 21 Squad, and throughout the academies across the country, the confidence and belief they can make the step up to a world class team.
