Jordan Henderson will be remembered as a Liverpool “great”, says Jan Molby, with a man who skippered the club to a sixth European Cup win due more credit than he currently receives.
Henderson, 28, has just completed his eighth season at Anfield.
It finished on a high with Champions League glory, with Jurgen Klopp’s side seeing off domestic rivals Tottenham to land Europe’s most prestigious prize .
Henderson made another 44 appearances for Liverpool across the 2018-19 campaign and has now passed the 300 mark for the club.
Many of those have come as captain, with the armband on Merseyside inherited from the legendary Steven Gerrard .
England international Henderson has not always earned widespread acclaim, for club or country, but Molby has no doubts about his value and believes justified recognition will come in time.
The Reds legend told Liverpool’s official website : "It's often overlooked how important these people are.
"But at Liverpool Football Club we're very proud of our history and if you go through all of the great teams, we can all name the great players – but [also] the ones who were there every week, produced every week that, through history, become great players.
"Once Jordan is gone, people will look at the void that he leaves and think, 'Oh wow'."
Getty ImagesMolby added on Henderson’s character, which has allowed him to come through some tough times and thrive for Liverpool and England: "It's much more important now than it ever was.
"We never thought about the importance of characters in the dressing room because we felt we had nothing but characters.
"He's never been scared of sort of confronting the criticism he's had – by that I mean, you go out and play your game.
"Some people try and change their play, other people buckle under that constant, 'Can we get somebody better?'.
"That's why when I didn't play, I never knocked on the manager's door. Because when you're playing, you know why you're playing. And when you're not playing, you know why you're not playing.
"The biggest compliment you can have as a player is if the manager keeps on picking you."