In the not too distant future when Jordan Henderson eventually calls time on his Liverpool career, it will go down as one of the most fascinating episodes Anfield has ever seen.
His time on Merseyside started with promise but was soon punctuated with plenty of doubt from all directions. However, the Liverpool captain's final years have coincided with one of the most prosperous eras in the club's modern history.
During this week two years ago, though, Henderson finally received the individual recognition his career had warranted, when he was crowned Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year for the 2019/20 season. The 32-year-old joined an illustrious list of Liverpool legends by claiming the award, with the likes of Ian Callaghan, Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush, Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and John Barnes all landing the honour during their time at Anfield.
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The 2019/20 season was without a doubt the finest of Henderson's 11 years at Anfield as his commanding performances from midfield helped the Reds stretch 27 games without tasting defeat in the Premier League. Ultimately, winning the league title at a canter as they ended a vicious 30-year span of near misses and heartbreak by boasting an 18-point lead over second-placed Manchester City.
"I owe a lot to so many different people - but none more so than my current team-mates - who have just been incredible and deserve this every bit as much as I do," said a modest Henderson upon receipt of the award.
"We've only achieved what we've achieved because every single member of our squad has been brilliant. And not just in matches. Not just in producing the moments that make the headlines and the back pages but every day in training."
It had been in the previous year that a career-defining call would be made by both Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool captain, which would hand him the opportunity to showcase his talents as the box-to-box midfielder he had promised to be during his early years on Merseyside.
Having endured a difficult start to life under Kenny Dalglish, who signed him from his boyhood club Sunderland in 2011, he was deployed on the right-hand side of midfield. And just one year after his £20m switch, a young Henderson was informed by the newly-appointed Brendan Rodgers that he would be free to go to Fulham because wasn't considered to be in the Northern Irishman's strongest XI.
However, the situation soon sweetened for the midfielder as he rose to promise while playing ahead of Steven Gerrard in a 4-1-2-1-2 during the 2013-14 campaign, starting 35 out of the 38 league games in a campaign that ended with the Reds being pipped to a first league title since 1990 by Manchester City.
But during Klopp's early years at Anfield, the 32-year-old was moulded into a defensive midfielder; playing alongside various partners in multiple systems before making the position his own in a 4-3-3 set-up from 2017 onwards, even if it was limiting his influence during the prime years of his career.
Yet, in 2019 as Liverpool chased a Champions League and Premier League double, Henderson found himself performing nowhere near his best and subsequently faced competition from Fabinho and Naby Keita, which led the skipper to arrange a difficult but frank assessment of his situation with the manager.
His need for intervention came after a string of fine performances for England during the 2019 March international break as he impressed while playing in a No.8 position against Montenegro and the Czech Republic. However, they had come just weeks after he had struggled against Manchester United and Everton at club level.
"When we had the conversation I felt that I could speak my mind,” said Henderson.
“I felt I could play further forward in that role. When I spoke to the manager it was (to say) that I do feel more natural in that position. Obviously, he saw the England games, I felt natural in the England games playing in that position and he said he would think about it.”
He added: "In the last couple of years there hasn’t really been a player like Fabinho in that role so I’ve had to adapt to that role. I think I’ve learned the position really well.
“But I think if you look at Fab, it’s quite natural to him, that’s his position and he’s so good at what you need to do in that position.
“I just thought that might give me a bit more licence to get forward. I can do both positions and he sees that I can do both. It’s another string to my bow - I’m enjoying playing and trying to contribute higher up the pitch in the final third.”
Henderson's rebirth would come just weeks later on the South Coast as his side travelled to Southampton in the penultimate month of their Premier League campaign, knowing that only a win would keep the pressure on Pep Guardiola and his side.
Fresh from talks with the Liverpool manager, Henderson found himself on the bench as he watched his side held to a 1-1 draw after a subpar first half at St Mary's. But his introduction with 30 minutes remaining was the catalyst for Liverpool to find a further breakthrough as he provided an assist for a fine individual goal from Mohamed Salah before rounding off the scoring with a composed finish from Roberto Firmino's well-worked cut-back.
He followed that impressive cameo up just days later against Porto in the first leg of the Champions quarter-final, where he was handed his first official outing in his new role and provided a fine pre-assist for Naby Keita's opener which prompted an apology from his manager.
"He likes the position obviously. It was my fault that for one-and-a-half years he played as a No.6. Sorry for that! But we needed him there." said Klopp after the 2-0 victory in April 2019.
For Henderson and Fabinho, alongside Gini Wijnaldum, the 2019-20 campaign allowed the duo to profit from the positional tweaks that had been implemented by Klopp in the previous season. Henderson's greater licence to get forward was highlighted by his four goals and five assists in 30 Premier League games as the Reds romped to league title glory.
Along the way, there was a string of remarkable individual displays, but none more so than against Southampton at Anfield as Henderson, providing one goal and one assist, proved exactly why he had made the decision to have such an honest discussion with his manager the previous year.
For Klopp, though, despite the individual success that Henderson profited from after the switch of position, it saw the German hand more attacking freedom to the third man of the Reds' midfield, a theme which is still present today.
Previously during the German's tenure, Liverpool had frequently set up with something best described as a 'workman-like' midfield as the sturdy and trusted trio of James Milner, Henderson and Wijnaldum were often summoned by their manager for the biggest games. But now, since Henderson's switch and because of his increasing age, that baton of creative freedom has been passed onto Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones and Fabio Carvalho - who have all previously played as wingers - ahead of the new season.
Now, when called upon, Henderson takes the role as the more precautionary No.8 while Elliott, Jones, and, as we have seen in pre-season so far, Carvalho are handed the opportunity to play between the lines in a capacity similar to a fourth attacking player.
Meaning that even two years on from Henderson's individual brilliance during the 19/20 campaign, his team-mates are continuing to ride the wave ahead of a new era at Anfield.
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