IT is only three years ago that Jason Denayer could have signed for Liverpool, and today he will head back there wearing a Sunderland shirt looking to stun an expectant Anfield crowd.

Denayer has always been ambitious and an impatient young man, desperate to make quick progress and that was how he ended up on Merseyside as a 17-year-old trying to make an impact. He had travelled over for a trial, but an agreement with the Reds took time and the next thing he knew he was signing for Manchester City.

At that stage he had already developed into a strong defender, possessing not only a technical astuteness but he was also fast and intelligent in possession. It was such attributes that had earned the recognition of both Liverpool and City, and his versatility means he has already played in a number of positions for Sunderland this season.

In the absence of the suspended Papy Djilobodji today, Denayer could be asked to fill in in central defence or, like he did against Hull City, he may stay in the central midfield role where he has looked comfortable recently.

“My position is centre-back but I will play everywhere, the coach (David Moyes) this season is asking me to play everywhere,” said Denayer. “I played in midfield when I was young and I enjoyed it, so there is no problem to play there.

“It’s better to play than be on the bench, wherever that is. You don’t train to sit on the bench. Even if it is not your favoured position it is important to play, otherwise you can be sad.”

His time at City has been spent on loan at Celtic and Galatasaray, so fighting relegation fires is new to him. He has settled in well, but is understandably reluctant to discuss his future beyond this season’s loan.

After all Denayer, often described as the ‘new Kompany’ because of his friendship with compatriot and City club-mate Vincent, has not worked his way to the top of his profession just to make his way back down again at the age of 21 should Sunderland fail to stay up.

“When I signed here I knew it was going to be different (to City, Celtic and Galatasaray),” said Denayer. “I knew I wouldn’t be playing for titles but this was my choice, and I accepted it. It’s another challenge.

“I played in Scotland, I played in Turkey. I wanted to play in England. So for me now, I think it’s a personal challenge to play and do well in England. In Turkey it was trophies, in Scotland trophies. But now it’s more personal for me to do well here.

“At my previous clubs there is a little bit more pressure because they need to win the title, they need to win the cup and you need to win, win every time. Here, even the supporters are more kind, calm and show more respect.

“When you don’t win, they help you. They encourage you. There (at the other clubs) it’s different, if you lose one game all of the supporters are aggressive towards the team.

It’s different. I don’t know if they’re used to being in this position, it’s just different and I think the people see things differently. Maybe they know that they’re not going to win the title so they are calmer. They know they are not going to win every week.”

Regardless of Sunderland’s position at in the relegation zone, the financial cash cow of the Premier League is a far cry from his childhood. He was brought up in a deprived area of Brussels, the Anneessens quarter, by his Belgian father and Congolese mother.

He has previously suggested that ‘one silly contact could cause an explosive atmosphere’ in the suburbs and that more talented boys than him never made it as a footballer because of wrong choices in the dangerous neighbourhood.

Denayer was purely focused on his football. After starting out with local youth club Ganshoren, by the age of 11 he had earned a trial with Anderlecht. A year later he decided to sign for them, having initially been put off by the fact nobody had passed to him.

Two years later, though, he still preferred to go to the Academie Jean-Marc Gullou, where he would play football for four hours a day in small sized games.

It was a big decision to walk away from Anderlecht, one of the biggest clubs in Belgium, for the purposes of playing for an academy, where he would often play barefoot purely to work on technique. It was a decision that has paid off.

“We trained barefooted from 11 to 16, for the feel of the ball,” said Denayer, speaking at Sunderland’s Academy of Light this week. “I went (to the Academie, in Lier) when I left Anderlecht’s.

“The dad of a friend called my dad and said there was an academy opening in Belgium where you play football four hours a day and continue your schoolwork. I just told my parents that I wanted to go, I passed the (entrance) test and I stayed there until I was 17.

It was all week there and weekends back home.

“At the start it was very difficult but parents could visit on Wednesdays and the Sunday (when he returned). It was difficult to be away but it has helped me to be a little bit more mature because you need to do a lot of things for yourself.”

He will be provided a reminder this afternoon of where his English sojourn started. A move to Liverpool may not have materialised, but he hopes Sunderland can stun one of the Premier Legaue’s hottest teams and is keen to play his part.

“Liverpool will be a difficult game, we know that,” said Denayer. “We have to go there with a positive mind and if we do that then you never know. We want to make the difference. We want to be there when Sunderland win for the first time in 30 years there, all we are hoping for is to try our best.

“There was no big problem in the dressing room before we won our last two matches. Nobody had fallen out with anyone. Maybe that positive mind has helped us in the last couple of weeks and we want to continue that at Liverpool.”