They say love is sweeter second time around.

Sadly, in football it rarely seems to work out that way.

I am, of course, referring to the speculation that Sunderland’s Academy poster-boy Jordan Henderson could be heading back to Wearside in January, 13-and-a-half years after his £20m move to Liverpool.

Henderson enjoyed a glorious career at Anfield, winning the Premier League title, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup (twice), UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, and the Community Shield, and was appointed captain in 2015.

He has also won more than 80 England caps and represented the Three Lions in three World Cups and three European Championships.

Not bad for a lad from Farringdon!

So it is hardly surprising that the prospect of seeing Henderson return to where it all began and finish his career at his boyhood club has an irresistible emotional pull.

But would it be a wise move? I’m not so sure.

Had Henderson rejoined from Liverpool in the summer of 2023, it could have been sold as a triumphant homecoming.

However, following on from the public relations disaster of a six-month stint in the footballing desert (literally and figuratively) of Saudi Arabia, and then a less-than-stellar sojourn with Netherlands giants Ajax, it begins to look a little desperate.

At 34, Henderson would be an outlier who does not fit Sunderland’s current recruitment philosophy as far as age profile is concerned.

It would be viewed as a move based on sentiment rather than dispassionate data.

Any such move come with huge risks attached, as Sunderland know only too well.

Their most recent attempt to do something similar, when Jermain Defoe was re-signed from Glasgow Rangers, saw the Black Cats end up with their fingers burned.

Defoe was a big success when Sunderland were in the Premier League, scoring 34 goals in 87 games despite playing in a team that was constantly fighting relegation.

But when he returned in January 2022, he failed to even nail down a place in a Sunderland side competing for a top six place in League One, and within two months - and after just two starts, only seven appearances in total, and no goals - he called time on his playing career.

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Rarely do players’ second spells at a club live up to, never mind outshine, their first.

Slovakian defender Stanislav Varga looked like a world-beater on his debut first time around before injury took its toll. He returned in 2006 under his former Celtic teammate Roy Keane but was discarded shortly after the turn of the year as Sunderland embarked on the run that would carry them to promotion back to the Premier League and he was released at the end of the following season.

Left-back George McCartney was an Academy product who formed a near-telepathic partnership with Julio Arca during Sunderland’s promotion-winning 2004-05 season under Mick McCarthy. The Northern Irishman left for West Ham, returned in 2008 but never recaptured the form of his first spell, partly due to a series of injuries.

Danny Graham’s first stint at Sunderland in the Premier League was a disaster, but four years later he was back with Phil Parkinson feeling that the striker might fare better in League One. He didn’t.

There are other examples, but you get the idea.

That’s not to say ‘never go back’ is an iron-clad rule.

Grant Leadbitter left Sunderland for Ipswich Town and then Middlesbrough but returned home in 2019, helping Jack Ross’ side reach the League One play-off final where they were beaten by Charlton Athletic. He went on to help Sunderland win the EFL Trophy in 2021 and reach the play-off semi-final the same year.

And, looking farther back, Paul Bracewell and Pop Robson, were among those who had distinguished second acts.

More often than not, though, it does not work out that way.

I saw Henderson rise through the ranks at Sunderland, take his early steps with Ricky Sbragia’s U21s at Durham City, make his senior debut in a 5-0 defeat at Chelsea in the dying days of Roy Keane’s reign, and going on to become a regular under Steve Bruce and earn his dream move.

His final game for Sunderland was a 3-0 win at West Ham in May 2011 which secured a tenth-placed finish in the Premier League, with Henderson the young, energetic, beating heart of the midfield.

That’s how I’d prefer to remember him.

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Former Sunderland man Aiden McGeady has announced his retirement this week at the age of 38, after leaving Scottish Championship side Ayr United.

McGeady’s best times at Sunderland came under Jack Ross, who found a way to accommodate him and let his undoubted natural talent shine through.

But if there was one game that stood out in McGeady’s spell on Wearside, it came under Lee Johnson in February 2021 when he set up all four goals for Charlie Wyke in a 4-1 win against League One promotion rivals Doncaster Rovers.

It was, as Johnson said afterwards, vintage McGeady.