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Damien Comolli has claimed his sacking from Liverpool FC was down to his decision to sign Jordan Henderson.

The Frenchman spent 18 months at Anfield between 2010 and 2012, latterly as the club’s director of football, which gave him responsibility for the identification and recruitment of new players.

Among the deals Comolli sanctioned was that of Henderson, a £16m capture from Sunderland in 2011. And it is that transfer that he believes was key to his departure from the Reds less than a year later.

“When we signed Jordan Henderson, he got so much criticism, I got so much criticism,” he said.

“I was never told why I was sacked but I was led to believe it was because we signed Jordan Henderson, and the owners were convinced he was not good enough.”

Henderson, of course, has since gone on to establish himself at Anfield, and was named as Liverpool’s vice-captain earlier this year. And Comolli has explained the detailed scouting that was undertaken prior to his signing.

“Looking at Jordan Henderson, we wanted legs, we wanted physicality, we wanted pace and creativity in the final third,” he said.

“I was able to benchmark Jordan against the top midfield players in the Premier League, taking his age into consideration, taking the transfer fee into consideration, and in my position, you need to look at age, money and the player’s ability.”

“Looking at all this, what he was doing for his age, and all due respect to Sunderland, he was definitely undervalued by the market. And I’ve been told we overvalued him. Even directors at Sunderland later said ‘you didn’t know what you were doing’.

“Jordan stood out at the time, when he was 20, because of the number of chances he created in the final third. He was very good at it. When you look at chances created in the final third in open play, you are the best player finishing in the top 5-10 [in the Premier League] every year.

“So when I saw Jordan in that area, I thought he’s definitely got something. Because when I was looking at it five years back, (Thierry) Henry, (Frank) Lampard and (Cesc) Fabregas were there, so when he was there, I thought definitely he’s got something. It can’t be a coincidence, and now look at him.”