Liverpool skipper and midfield stalwart Jordan Henderson signing for Saudi Arabian side Al Ettifaq will bring both cheer and dismay to the Anfield faithful.
Henderson has long had his critics rebuke him for his under-par showings in the Liverpool shirt and a vocal section of the Reds fanbase have urged the club time and again to sanction their skipper’s exit in the search of fresh blood from the transfer market.
The former Sunderland man, who made the move to the Merseyside in 2012, and took over the captain’s armband from club icon Steven Gerrard when the latter left for the Stateside in 2015, finally leaves the club to join Al Ettifaq in a mega-money deal which will see him pocket £700,000 per week.
Bringing curtains down on a 12-year stay at the Reds would certainly not have been an easy decision to make for the England international, with Henderson – a vocal supporter of the LGBTQ+ community during his Premier League stint – moving to a country infamous for their human rights record.
Calling it quits with Liverpool is also likely to raise concerns over Henderson being considered for England selection by manager Gareth Southgate who has asserted, in the past, that England players should move abroad to broaden their horizons rather than remain on the fringes of a Premier League club for sizable wages.
The 32-year-old Henderson is expected to hold onto his spot in the Three Lions fold for now but Southgate would have been far more delighted should the ex-Liverpool captain have stayed put with Jurgen Klopp’s Reds ahead of the upcoming season which promises to be one where the Merseysiders bounce back from the disappointment of last term and challenge Manchester City for the top flight crown.
Klopp, meanwhile, will have more pressing concerns amid the time of a ‘rebuild’ at Anfield with his midfield roster losing three first-team names in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and James Milner at the end of last season. Since then, the departures of Henderson and Fabinho – with the latter on the verge of joining his old teammate in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad set to sign him in a £40 million transfer – are bound to push Klopp to dip into the market for a fresh pair of legs to reinforce the Liverpool engine room.
"You are a legend"
Jurgen Klopp pays tribute to his former captain Jordan Henderson 👏 pic.twitter.com/j56Map7bEU
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 27, 2023
It is fair to say Liverpool will not face too challenging a task replacing Henderson’s ability in the centre of the park, however, the outgoing Englishman’s leadership ability, hailed by many as pivotal to Liverpool’s success in the Klopp-era, is sure to be missed by Klopp and his backroom staff. Moreover, vice-captain Milner also left the Reds earlier in the summer to sign for Brighton – leaving a huge void in the dressing room at the club.
Speculation remains rife over Henderson’s successor to don the armband as Klopp remains coy over announcing who his next captain is. Virgil van Dijk is backed to be named as Henderson’s successor with the likes of Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah also a part of the leadership group.
Inducting fresh blood into the Liverpool midfield roster is another task awaiting Klopp before the upcoming season gets underway with the Reds camp playing hardball with Southampton over transfer target Roméo Lavia’s price tag. The Belgian prospect has emerged as the top name on Liverpool’s shopping list but the Sainst are understood to be holding out for a £50 million bid from the Anfield outfit.
Lavia’s arrival on Merseyside in the coming weeks could see him claim a direct entry into the Liverpool XI for the first game of the 2023-24 campaign with the Reds losing their two long-serving holding midfielders in Henderson and Fabinho – and Klopp will be hoping his gamble to revamp his midfield options pays off.
