With two major sales of player assets, Jordan Henderson and Darren Bent, we have what could rise to £44 million and although we grow attached to players that do the business on the pitch for the club week by week, season by season, we have got to face up to it: football is a business, and assets can be disposed of, so to speak.

What does the club do if it gets crazy bids for its players? We have heard this week that Premier League wages are £1.3 billion, so there are obviously some wild, poor odds gambles going on. I believe that Sunderland is a well-run club, and the owners, chairman, directors and manager know what is required to bring success.

We have sold a lot of top players over the years, Colin Suggett, Colin Todd, Dave Watson and Denis Tueart, Ally McCoist, Lee Chapman, Barry Venison, Kevin Phillips and even Jody Craddock. McCoist and Chapman went on to be top scorers for Rangers and Leeds as they won their respective Championships soon after.

As highlighted in an earlier blog, the club did receive a crazy bid, reputedly £18m+ for Kevin Phillips from Aston Villa a decade ago and turned it down, only to sell him for a bargain price of £2m to Southampton a year later as the Black Cats were relegated. Despite all this, I believe we can hold on to key players, even though as a club have the glamour tag associated with many of the very top teams.

Back to Henderson: he has been a credit to Kevin Ball and the Academy of Light, as an energetic, box-to-box midfielder with pace and natural footballing awareness. But I also believe we owe a debt to Steve Bruce, for picking him out for the first team and believing in him enough to bring him on to being a teenage first team regular in what has obviously been a symbiotic relationship. All young players need someone to be rooting for them and showing that crucial initial belief, which translates into self- belief for the lad himself.

In a busy week between England under-21 games, the 20-year-old, who is also a full England international has signed a long-term contract with the Merseysiders. Apparently Sunderland had rejected Liverpool's previous offer for the player, which was thought to be worth around £16m.

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn was full of praise for Henderson: "Jordan is a credit to himself, his family and Sunderland's Academy and everyone here wishes him the very best for the future. I'm pleased that we got the deal to a level that we felt was right for our club. We know the areas that need strengthening and the type of player we need in order to progress, and the job of bringing those players to the club is continuing at a pace."

One can argue that Jordan Henderson will be missed more than Darren Bent, not just for his obvious talent, drive and performances for the Lads, but because of his attitude as a Sunderland boy and therefore what he means to the fans, as a top player and England international coming out of the academy who would sweat blood for his hometown club.

Again, Sunderland fans have to trust the manager to bring in the new players we need to compete in the world’s top league next season. Transfer targets are reputedly the Man. Utd. trio of Gibson, Brown and O’Shea, with Gibson valued at $12 M. Peter Crouch, Roman Pavyluchenko and Charles N’Zogbia are potentially set to fill the striker’s berth. Gardner and Larsson of Birmingham have also had their names mentioned as recruits.

Whatever happens next, this will surely be a summer of intense transfer activity, with some major rebuilding of the team taking place. I do not see many further departures, aside from what we already know about Mensah and Zenden. I for one will miss the Dutchman who has been a great contributor in his time at the club, and we wish him well for the future.

Watch this space!
©Lars J.S. Knutsen

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