Former Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson played for Anfield for over a decade until last season. Since Jurgen Klopp took over, he has been the engine of the midfield and has continued to implement intense pressing throughout the game.
However, age has not been against him, and the athleticism of his prime did not last, which was part of the reason for last season’s poor performance.
This season, he was still in the German manager’s plans, but instead of being a regular, he was asked to play a late-intermission role to close out games, like James Milner had been until last season.
Although the England midfielder said that no longer being an absolute fixture at the club was a factor in his departure from Liverpool this summer, former Chelsea defender Glen Johnson, who played with him at Anfield in the past, countered that money was his biggest motivation.
“Bloody hell, of course the money was a major factor. He’s not gone there for the standard of football and if it wasn’t about money, then he would have gone somewhere else.”
“James Milner moved to Brighton at 37 years of age, so there would have been many clubs that would have wanted Jordan this summer in Europe. However, Al-Ettifaq wanted him and paid him an absolute fortune so you can’t blame him for going, but I do believe that money was a huge, huge motivator.”
GGrecon
As Johnson claims, many clubs would have been looking for experienced midfielders, not only in England but also in Europe. It would have been easy to secure continuous playing time in a higher level league.
On the other hand, it is quite natural to make a decision based on a combination of factors, not only playing time, but also the presence of manager Steven Gerrard as a factor.
In the factors involved in a transfer, priorities vary from person to person, and no one knows for sure. Liverpool made the decision to let him go, and Jordan Henderson decided to join the Middle East. That is a fact, nothing more, nothing less…