Jurgen Klopp squashes rumors about Jordan Henderson’s potential return to the Premier League

Liverpool’s former captain Jordan Henderson made headlines when he migrated to Saudi Arabia last July after the Saudi Pro League bought him off Liverpool for $15m. The headlines, however, were not majorly focused on the whopping $891k the midfielder received as a weekly wage but rather emphasized on the contrast in Henderson’s belief system with that of the Arab culture.

Henderson had made the high profile move to Al Ettifaq to play under his former teammate from the Anfield side, Steven Gerrard, who was appointed as the club’s manager last July. This transfer, that ended the Englishman’s 12-year long career at the Merseyside, was met with widespread confoundment.

The Anfield side’s former box-to-box midfielder has long been known to be an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. It was surprising to see such an open-minded individual migrate to a league that operates in country which criminalizes being queer. Despite the initial enthusiasm, the Henderson’s honeymoon period seems to have come to an end as he has only played 19 times for Al Ettifaq so far, whilst failing to settle down and establish himself in the club.

There seemed to be rumors swirling about the midfielder’s alleged desire to return to the Merseyside. As quoted by Liverpool ECHO, the Reds boss Jurgen Klopp seemingly shut down any likeliness of Henderson’s return to Liverpool by saying:

“That means for me it is not existing. He hasn’t called me. We spoke actually but not about that but I really have nothing to say about that.”

Jordan Henderson unlikely to return to his English roots anytime soon

The club did not suffer for long following the midfielder’s departure. Liverpool’s German head coach began revamping the club’s entire midfield and attack during the summer that Henderson left the Anfield side. The Merseyside invested in bringing in suitable players like Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai who’ve since proven to be exceptional players that helped bolster the team’s midfield this season.

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The Sunderland-born went from being a venerable player of the topflight in the Premier League to an average midfield capable of being overlooked in a struggling club in the Saudi Pro League. His leadership qualities, work rate and passing expertise formed key factors in the success of the midfield at the Anfield side prior to his departure. His potential has seemingly dwindled out under Steven Gerrard’s supervision with t club having secured only five wins so far in the race for the Saudi Arabia Kings Cup