Steve Bruce, the Sunderland manager, has conceded he may struggle to keep Jordan Henderson at the club after his exploits in the Premier League and with the England U21 side.

Henderson, 20, scored as the young Three Lions defeated Romania in a play-off to reach next year's European Championship finals.

It has brought suggestions that the attacking midfielder, who has played 49 times for the Black Cats after coming through the youth system at his hometown club, needs to move away from the Stadium of Light to fulfil his potential.

Bruce is not concerned about any interest in Henderson - suggesting it would be good for his development to continue playing first-team football in the North East.

"I give him a bit of stick and say to him 'who is it? Chelsea this week, Inter Milan next week? Real Madrid? I always just make light of it," he said.

"It is inevitable that there will be stories linking him with all sorts of clubs. You know that when the big boys come, you are up against it and we have to be realistic about that. We will have to deal with that if and when the time is right.

"But it is normal when a player has burst on to the scene, as he has, then all the top teams in the country are going to be looking at him and obviously want him because he is young and, more importantly, he is English.

"It is fantastic he's getting all these accolades at the moment. But it's important to make sure we keep him on track and that he fulfils all that potential, because he has only played 40 games."