Richie McCormack

His debut season would see Laudrup crowned Danish Footballer of the Year and his 18th birthday was marked by his international debut, scoring the Danes goal in a 2-1 friendly defeat to Norway in Oslo, a game in which future Liverpool midfielder Jan Moby, more of which and on,

would also win his first cap.

Laudrup's performances would spark the interest, naturally, of a host of European clubs, which included Sunderland.

Yes, they were dismissed as being hardly a dream club by the Laudrup family.

Sunderland's interest, though, could be viewed as genuine, as around the same time, they visited with Alan Simonson in Barcelona and did offer him a generous financial package.

However, under the guidance of his dad, Finn, Laudrup shied away from talk of leaving Brombo, at least until an adequate fee was secured.

Ajax complained in early 1983 that the Laudrup family had demanded 9.6 million Danish kroner for a move to the Amsterdam Giants.

A teenager in demand for sure, but Bramboos Per Bjerregaard says Laudrup didn't outwardly wear any signs of the star.

He'd quickly become, and always remained, part of their team.

Such was his rounded nature that Laudrup would pull out of the Denmark squad for European Championship qualifiers in 1983 to concentrate on his studies.

He was still a teenager after all, and it wasn't until his schooling was completed that he and his family began to entertain thoughts of playing outside of Denmark.

Just a note, Laudrup's thesis was on the North African desert, which could well have helped with his later managerial move into the arid Middle East.

Back on Merseyside though, Paisley's impending departure did little to halt Liverpool's dominance of the English game, having the title wrapped up in April of 83, with the League Cup also secured with a win over Manchester United at Wembley.

And a month before Ronnie Whelan's extra-time goal secured that trophy for a third season in a row, Liverpool had been in serious negotiations with the Loudrops.

On February 23rd, three days before Liverpool played Manchester United in a huge league game at Old Trafford, the Loudrop family travelled to Merseyside to discuss a potential move to the English champions' elect.

We know that exact date, as the Loudrops had the misfortune to share their flight with Danish journalist Jorgen Herbert, who was travelling merely to report on a game.

Herbert didn't have much time to break the story, as an agreement was quickly reached when the Loudrops met with Liverpool chief executive Peter Robinson, chairman John Smith and manager Bob Paisley, but the finer details worked out in the small hours of the following morning.

The Liverpool contingent had proposed a four or five year deal, something which, in their view, would allow the teenage Laudrup time to bet into life on Merseyside and develop as a player.

However, the Laudrups were insistent on a shorter deal.

They saw that as enabling them to pivot away from Liverpool if Michael was failing to make an impact.