In six days time, Jordan Henderson could well be lifting aloft the Champions League trophy in Kiev.

Henderson will lead his Liverpool side out in the Champions League final against Real Madrid next Saturday as the club look to win their sixth European Cup.

It would represent quite a remarkable turnaround in his Liverpool career for the midfielder.

After joining in the summer of 2011 for £20 million, Henderson has endured some tough times at Anfield.

He was immediately compared to Steven Gerrard and, after just one season at the club, it looked as though Henderson would be leaving the club.

It was Kenny Dalglish that signed Henderson but his successor, Brendan Rodgers, didn’t seem too impressed with the former Sunderland man.

So much so that he attempted to swap Henderson for Clint Dempsey during his first summer at the club.

RODGERS WANTED DEMPSEY FOR HENDERSON

Rodgers proposed the move just hours before Liverpool’s Europa League clash against Hearts but Henderson and adamant he didn’t want to leave the club.

And he’s revealed exactly how he reacted after being told he wasn’t wanted by Rodgers.

"Brendan called me in and said “Listen, this is the offer” and he asked me what I thought," Henderson told the Daily Mail.

"It implied to me that he would let me leave and it was up to me. I went back to my room. I shed a few tears. I ended up crying a little bit because it hurt so much. I had the game that night to think about it as well.

"I spoke to my agent and told him what had happened and I said I didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay and fight and try and improve and try to prove the manager wrong. My agent agreed. I spoke to my dad. He was gutted but he backed my decision to stay and fight.

"From that point, I just kept my head down. I knew I wouldn’t get as much game time as I wanted but I still had faith. I was young enough to get my head down, keep working hard, do my extra bits and prove them wrong and I feel I managed to do that by the time Brendan left. There are always those moments in football — and life in general — which can decide the path and the route you go down. For me, it was never an option to leave."

You got to give Henderson an enormous amount of credit for believing in his own ability.

He knew he was good enough to succeed at Liverpool and just refused to leave the club.

Six years on, he could be captaining the club to a Champions League triumph.