Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson joined Steven Gerrard at Saudi Arabia’s Al Ettifaq and Jürgen Klopp spoke after the transfer was confirmed.
Jürgen Klopp has spoken of his admiration for Jordan Henderson’s illustrious career at Liverpool after the midfielder made a “difficult decision” to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq.
Henderson’s move to Gulf state sees him reunited with former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who recently took charge of Al-Ettifaq. The 33-year-old has signed a lucrative three-year deal worth $450,000 (£350,000) a week.
Henderson leaves behind a successful legacy on his departure from Anfield. He played a pivotal role in Liverpool’s trophy-rich period from 2019 to 2022, winning every major honor with the club. Speaking to Liverpool’s official website, Klopp described Henderson’s departure as “sad” and “absolutely strange”, but expressed his gratitude to his former captain for his contribution to Liverpool’s trophies.
“It’s going very well at the moment, but it’s been a while so we’ve had time to get used to it and get used to it. It’s football, it’s life, it’s normal, things like that happen,” Klopp said.
“On Monday when we returned to Liverpool, Hendo was waiting for us to say goodbye to the team and the technical staff. So that was a very nice gesture – a very nice thing.
I know it was.” A really, really tough decision for Hendo and I was with him the whole time. “It’s sad, absolutely strange because he’s the only captain I’ve had here at Liverpool, but I think it’s exciting for him too. He’ll be missed without a doubt, that’s for sure, as a person and as a player. But, like I said, this is football”.
Henderson, who joined Liverpool from Sunderland in 2011, left the club’s training base in Germany last week after Liverpool and Al-Ettifaq agreed a $15m (£12m/£14m) deal of Euro). Henderson’s move to Saudi Arabia makes him the latest high-profile Premier League player to join the league, but he is the first England international to do so.
However, his move has sparked controversy and criticism, particularly from the LGBTQ+ community, as Henderson has previously expressed support for equality. Despite the counter reaction, Henderson will endeavor with a new chapter in his career in the Middle East.
“Hendo is a very good package, a very good package,” said Klopp. \ “There is the physical part, but there is the super technical part. It is technically very, very, very good, what players sometimes see because of the role they see on the field, this fighter and Such things, not always.
\ “You cannot have this amount of Premier League games, you cannot be a Liverpool captain, you cannot play in the most important games in the world if you are not technically at a high level and he is. “Right foot, left foot really well. Tactically he has improved the most since we have been here, he had to play in different positions, he did it very well. He even played for us in halftime. I had to play number six, I thought he had played ‘a few outstanding games out of six’.
