Jordan Henderson bids farewell as Liverpool rebuild continues
Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson has taken to Instagram to bid farewell to the club after 12 years, ahead of a move to Saudi Arabia.
Al-Ettifaq are set to acquire his services for a reported £13 million. Henderson’s three-year contract would see his wages tripled, and it’s believed he is already training with his new teammates in Croatia, where the club are presently preparing in a camp ahead of next season.
In a short message accompanied by an emotional video, Henderson wrote “It’s hard to put these last 12 years into words and it’s even harder to say goodbye,” he wrote. “I will always be a Red. Until the day I die. Thank you for everything. You’ll never walk alone.”
Henderson will go down in Liverpool folklore as one of the club’s most decorated captains, having led the team to all attainable silverware, including a Premier League title after 30 years. In an illustrious career that was spread across 492 appearances, the 33-year-old scored 39 memorable goals and assisted on 74 more.
Henderson’s departure means Liverpool have now parted ways with almost their entire midfield, including Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita, James Milner and Arthur Melo. The former two ran out their contracts, while Milner, still going strong at 37, joined Brighton and Hove Albion.
As for the incoming signings, the Reds have pulled off two massive coups in the form of Alexis MacAllister and Dominik Szoboszlai, but manager Klopp has vowed for more signings at midfield to be made.
“The transfer window is open. If my day would have 28 hours at the moment it would not be a problem – I could fill them easily. Still three-and-a-half weeks until the first game of the season. A few things have to happen before then, definitely, transfer market-wise as well. That is clear now. And it will happen. New players have to come in. We will have a good team.”
Fabinho is touted to be the next player heading to Saudi Arabia, with Al-Ittihad offering Liverpool £40m.
Liverpool will step up their pre-season developments when they take on Leicester City on July 30th.
-Roy Akarshak
Twitter: @RoyAkarshak
Photo: Steffen Prößdorf. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.