Liverpool transfers: Jordan Henderson decision 'disappointed' Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard admits he was DISAPPOINTED with Jordan Henderson’s decision to quit Al-Ettifaq back in January after only six months playing in Saudi Arabia. 

Henderson, 33, left Liverpool last summer after 12 years, where he succeeded Gerrard as club captain. 

The midfielder was the skipper who lifted the Premier League trophy after three decades waiting for an English top-flight title and was also the man who hoisted the Reds’ sixth European Cup. 

His time at Anfield came to an end in acrimonious circumstances, facing substantial criticism for moving to Gerrard’s side in Saudi Arabia despite a long-standing commitment to fighting for LGBTQIA+ rights. 

Henderson’s career has subsequently hit the skids with an ordinary spell in the SPL preceding a move to Ajax in January. 

However, the Eredivisie transfer has failed to reignite his career with Henderson subsequently being dropped from England contention ahead of Euro 2024. 

Gerrard: I was disappointed in Henderson decision

Gerrard, the manager who attracted Henderson to the Middle East, admits his disappointment with Henderson’s choice to leave so quickly but added there were no hard feelings. 

“I respected his decision because I love him as a guy, I love him as a player and I have nothing but ultimate respect for him,” the former Liverpool captain told The Telegraph. 

“I was disappointed. Any manager who loses his captain during the season is not ideal and I told Jordan that. But if someone is not settled. If someone has some family things that are affecting him. If someone has got different outside goals or opportunities, like England for example, then I have to respect that and understand it. And I do. But was I disappointed? Of course I was.

Gerrard: 'Do what's right for your family'

Despite his desire to hang on to his captain, Gerrard says he did not plead with the former Sunderland man to hang around. 

“I did but I didn’t over-do that because it had to be Jordan’s decision,” he said. 

“He’s a big boy and I didn’t want to be someone – for example if I had convinced him to stay and he felt further down that it was the wrong decision then I didn’t want to be that person who was told ‘why did you convince me to stay?’. 

“It had to be Jordan’s decision. He needed his own time. He needed to go through his own processes. The advice I gave to Jordan was ‘do what’s right for your family’.”