Jurgen Klopp Reveals Reason Behind Jordan Henderson’s Liverpool Departure
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed that an inability to offer guarantees over regular playing time was behind Jordan Henderson’s surprise departure from the club this summer.
Henderson, who had been with the Reds for 12 years, moved to Saudi Pro League outfit Al Ettifaq in a £12 million deal. In an interview with The Athletic, the former club captain explained that he felt unwanted at Anfield and that his decision to leave was prompted by the lack of assurance from the manager and owners that he would remain a regular starter.
However, Klopp has since contradicted this claim, saying that he was keen for Henderson to stay but felt it was important to discuss the possibility of not playing regularly due to the team’s midfield rebuild.
“We had our talks and I told Hendo I wanted him to stay but we had to talk in these conversations about the possibility of not playing regularly,” said Klopp. “I told him we bring in players and stuff like this. You don’t have these talks when about the positives and say, ‘Hendo, you will play’. I cannot have a talk before a season and tell a player they will have 50 games this season, 100 percent, because I don’t know that, it all depends on performance.”
Klopp went on to explain that he was aware of Henderson’s tendency to become frustrated when not playing regularly, citing Lucas Leiva and James Milner as examples of players who had similar reactions in the past. He added that he couldn’t guarantee Henderson a starting spot and that this likely led the midfielder to seek out a new challenge.
“But in the specific situation with the relationship we had, I thought it was important that we speak about everything, which means what happens if… Because Hendo is a fantastic player, I will love him forever, super guy, but he’s not great when he’s not playing, let me say it like that,” said Klopp. “That’s Hendo’s problem, so you have to talk about that. He was my captain for seven-and-a-half years, so I had to talk about that because I don’t want to wake up one morning and need to lock horns with each other because he thought he would start and I tell him he isn’t. Obviously [for] Hendo that meant, ‘Okay, he doesn’t want me here’. I understand it 100 percent but we clarified that. But anyway, what he said is that if I would have told him: ‘Hendo, stay here, you will be the main man in midfield’, he would have stayed, that’s the truth. But I couldn’t say that, as much as I wanted him to stay, I couldn’t say that. So that’s why it was better that Hendo moved on.”
Despite Henderson’s departure, Klopp expressed his admiration for the midfielder and wished him all the best in his new venture. He also said that Henderson will be given a proper farewell when he returns to Anfield in the future.
“There’s not a bit of bad blood or whatever. He is the captain of the most successful team this club saw in the Premier League era and rightly so, he’s a sensational player. I wish him only the best and, when he comes here, from my point of view he gets a real farewell, everything, there’s nothing to misunderstand from that point of view.”
Jordan Henderson was an integral part of Liverpool’s success during his 12-year stint at Anfield and will be remembered fondly by fans of the club. While his departure was certainly unexpected, Jurgen Klopp’s explanation of the situation sheds some light on why Henderson felt it necessary to move on.