Luis Suarez has hailed the improvement of Jordan Henderson and believes his former Liverpool teammate is now a ‘role model for English football’.
Henderson recently passed a decade with the Reds after arriving from Sunderland for £20million during the 2011 summer transfer window.
At the time, Suarez had been with the Reds for around six months, having joined from Ajax on the final day of the winter window.
But after initially struggling to make a mark on Merseyside, the 31-year-old has gone on to prove his doubters wrong.
READ MORE: Four things spotted in training as Liverpool handed big injury boost
READ MORE: Liverpool could earn millions from transfer deal as double injury boost confirmed
After claiming the League Cup in the early stages of his Reds career, Henderson has since gone on to captain his side to Champions League and Premier League glory.
The England international and Suarez will line-up against each other on Wednesday at Anfield and the Uruguayan has explained how Henderson grew in confidence at the club.
“I think he's a player who's improved a great deal,” he told UEFA.com. “When he joined Liverpool, he came with the tag of somebody who had cost a lot of money.
“He was a young, English, coming from Sunderland. This may have put some pressure on him, but as he grew in confidence with the team.
“He took many things from Gerrard, and from experienced players such as Carragher. He took things on board from me.”
Before Suarez continued on his former teammate: “I think that, as a captain, he has matured a lot.
“During his career, he has helped the club grow, with his personality and playing better football.
“He’s a role model for English football. Winning a Premier League title with Liverpool must have been fantastic for him, and it's made him greater than he already was.”
The 34-year-old striker scored 82 goals in 133 appearances for the Reds before moving to Barcelona for £70million in the summer of 2014.
And ahead of his Anfield return, Suarez has spoken of his honour at sharing a dressing room with Steven Gerrard and admitted he would have loved to have played alongside Fernando Torres.
He said: "Despite Fernando Torres leaving at that time, and while it would have been amazing to play with him, just to be sharing a dressing room with players like (Steven) Gerrard, Martin Skrtel, Danny Agger, Pepe Reina and Jamie Carragher – club legends who achieved great things – was unbelievable for me."
