Comolli: Liverpool sacked me because I 'wasted money' on Henderson
Damien Comolli claims he was sacked by Liverpool’s owners because he had “wasted money” on buying Jordan Henderson.
The Frenchman was dismissed from his role as director of football in April 2012 with Fenway Sports Group unhappy about the return on their investment in the transfer market.
Comolli negotiated the £16million deal for Henderson with Sunderland, as well as the purchase of players like Stewart Downing (£20million), Andy Carroll (£35million) and Charlie Adam (£7million).
Henderson endured a tough start to his Liverpool career but has since gone on to flourish at Anfield.
Comolli believes the passage of time has proved that Henderson, who is now Reds captain and wearing the armband for England , was worth every penny.
Ian Ayre, right, with Kenny Dalglish and Damien Comolli
“Henderson is one of the main reasons I got sacked,” he told talkSPORT.
“The day I got sacked they told me I had made a big mistake on Jordan and he was a waste of money.
“Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but I think we paid the right price.
“he was a young English, British player and we know very often that British players are overvalued. But we were more than happy to pay the price because we thought he would become an outstanding player.
Damien Comolli with Liverpool FC owner John Henry.
“I never said it publicly, but I was convinced he would be the future captain. People will say it is easy to say now, but I was convinced at the time that he would become the Liverpool captain. Now he is and he is also the England captain.”
Comolli added: “I was totally convinced, as was Kenny (Dalglish), that we were doing the right thing for the club.
“He fitted the profile we were looking for. We knew he was an outstanding person, we knew he had leadership skills, we knew he was totally dedicated to football, to his passion, and we knew he was someone who wanted to improve on a day to day basis.
“We knew his physical abilities - his fitness stats were absolutely unbelievable. We were looking at statistics and we were going through a lot of midfield players in the Premier League and what amazed me and caught my eye was his ability to create quality chances.”
- 16:05, 11 OCT 2016
- UPDATED 16:06, 11 OCT 2016
- BY JAMES PEARCE
Damien Comolli claims he was sacked by Liverpool’s owners because he had “wasted money” on buying Jordan Henderson.
The Frenchman was dismissed from his role as director of football in April 2012 with Fenway Sports Group unhappy about the return on their investment in the transfer market.
Comolli negotiated the £16million deal for Henderson with Sunderland, as well as the purchase of players like Stewart Downing (£20million), Andy Carroll (£35million) and Charlie Adam (£7million).
Henderson endured a tough start to his Liverpool career but has since gone on to flourish at Anfield.
Comolli believes the passage of time has proved that Henderson, who is now Reds captain and wearing the armband for England , was worth every penny.
Ian Ayre, right, with Kenny Dalglish and Damien Comolli
“Henderson is one of the main reasons I got sacked,” he told talkSPORT.
“The day I got sacked they told me I had made a big mistake on Jordan and he was a waste of money.
“Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but I think we paid the right price.
“he was a young English, British player and we know very often that British players are overvalued. But we were more than happy to pay the price because we thought he would become an outstanding player.
Damien Comolli with Liverpool FC owner John Henry.
“I never said it publicly, but I was convinced he would be the future captain. People will say it is easy to say now, but I was convinced at the time that he would become the Liverpool captain. Now he is and he is also the England captain.”
Comolli added: “I was totally convinced, as was Kenny (Dalglish), that we were doing the right thing for the club.
“He fitted the profile we were looking for. We knew he was an outstanding person, we knew he had leadership skills, we knew he was totally dedicated to football, to his passion, and we knew he was someone who wanted to improve on a day to day basis.
“We knew his physical abilities - his fitness stats were absolutely unbelievable. We were looking at statistics and we were going through a lot of midfield players in the Premier League and what amazed me and caught my eye was his ability to create quality chances.”
