‘NEVER go back’. It is one of the oldest adages in football, but it doesn’t always ring true, especially at Sunderland.

For every Jermain Defoe, whose second spell as a Black Cat in League One was an unmitigated disaster, there is a Pop Robson, whose three spells on Wearside all featured crucial goals and could be deemed major successes. For every Danny Graham, re-signed from Swansea for £5m to score one goal, which went in via his backside, in 37 matches, there is a Paul Bracewell, another player to have three spells with Sunderland, the latter two of which involved winning promotion.

The record of returning players is mixed, which means it’s hard to make a definitive call on the wisdom or otherwise of Sunderland’s reported interest in bringing Jordan Henderson back to the Stadium of Light in January. Ajax have indicated they’re willing to let the 34-year-old leave, a year after signing him from Saudi Arabia. Wearside sources insist the Sunderland hierarchy are yet to make a decision on whether to make a move for the midfielder, who made 79 senior appearances for his hometown club before leaving for Liverpool in the summer of 2011. There are growing suggestions, however, that the talk of potential interest is genuine.

Would re-signing Henderson, more than a decade after letting him go, make sense? Might the veteran Wearsider be the missing piece in the promotion puzzle? Or would his return be an emotional error, disrupting the squad cohesion Regis Le Bris has quickly fused since his appointment this summer and creating an unwanted distraction that might hinder rather than help Sunderland’s attempts to get back to the top-flight?

Let’s focus on the football first. Would Henderson be able to offer something Sunderland need? Clearly, in his mid-30s, the midfielder is not the same player he was when he was winning Champions Leagues with Liverpool and holding down a regular starting spot in the England team.

His brief spell in Saudi Arabia was a disaster, costing him a place in Gareth Southgate’s squad, and while he fared reasonably well with Ajax in the second half of last season, starting 12 games as the Dutch club improved after a dreadful start to the campaign, it is notable that of his nine starts in the current campaign, only two have come in the Eredivisie. Most of the others came in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League, right at the start of the season, and he has been on the bench for Ajax’s last two league games.

That said, though, the Eredivisie is still a pretty decent standard to be playing at. You’d inevitably be taking a little bit on trust, but given the way in which Henderson has looked after himself during his career, and the defensive-midfield role he would be expected to perform, which tends to need positional nous and stamina rather than explosive pace or dynamism, it’s surely not too much of a leap of faith to suggest he could still do a job in the Championship.

Do Sunderland need another central midfielder? Possibly not, with Dan Neil, Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg pretty much cemented as Le Bris’ first-choice trio, and with Alan Browne and Salis Abdul Samed waiting in the wings.

Samed has still not kicked a ball since signing this summer, though, and will continue to be sidelined for a number of weeks, and it can be argued that none of Sunderland’s other midfielders offer the kind of defensive-midfield specialism that Henderson can offer. There could certainly be matches, towards the end of the season perhaps, where Sunderland need someone to help shut up shop, even if only from the bench. And with the Black Cats boasting so much young midfield talent, wouldn’t it be ideal to have an experienced figure like Henderson to act as a mentor? The fact he’s an academy product too is surely another positive if you’re wanting to show the likes of Neil and Rigg that a successful spell at Sunderland can help them realise their dreams.

Jordan Henderson started his career with SunderlandJordan Henderson started his career with Sunderland (Image: The Northern Echo)

So, what are the potential negatives? Clearly, there’d be a financial cost to re-signing Henderson, who will hardly be demanding the kind of sums he was earning in the Middle East, but who would almost certainly still return to Wearside as one of Sunderland’s highest-paid players.

There would also be an inevitable flurry of interest surrounding the return of such a high-profile figure, and that proved extremely problematic with Defoe when he was not starting. Alex Neil grew extremely tired of having to constantly justify his decision not to select Defoe during his second spell at Sunderland, and it would be interesting to see how Le Bris handled the inevitable questions he would be asked if Henderson was not a regular starter. Then, on the flip side, if Henderson was starting ahead of a Rigg or a Bellingham, and Sunderland were not winning, the questions would be even more pointed.

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Henderson is hardly the type of prima donna figure who might quickly become a disruptive influence within a dressing room. Even so, his return would inevitably alter the carefully-calibrated dynamic Le Bris has been keen to create.

Would Sunderland fans welcome him back? It might seem a ridiculous question given the esteem in which he was held first time around, but his willingness to take Saudi Arabian money hardly went down well given the Middle Eastern state’s links to Newcastle United and the way in which Sunderland supporters have criticised their rivals up the road for embracing such a controversial regime.

Would that matter? Ultimately, Henderson’s football would do the talking, and that’s where the focus should fall. Personally, I can just about see why re-signing the 34-year-old might make sense. It would, however, be a risk, at a time when things are going swimmingly. Never go back? If only it was so clear-cut.