Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp has hailed Jordan Henderson for being a ‘special’ player at the club and feels that the midfielder’s transfer to Al-Ettifaq of the Saudi Pro League should delight him.
Henderson’s move to the Middle Eastern-state brings him back together with Steven Gerrard. The former Liverpool captain who was hired as Al-Ettifaq’s manager earlier this month.
The 33-year-old has committed to a lucrative three-year deal thought to be worth £350,000 weekly.
He leaves the club having contributed significantly to Liverpool’s trophy-laden triumph between 2019 and 2022. And having won every major trophy available.
Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com, Klopp described Henderson’s departure as “sad” and “absolutely strange” but thanked his former captain for his role in returning trophies to Anfield.
“On Monday when we arrived back in Liverpool, Hendo was waiting for us to say goodbye properly to the team. And to the coaching staff as well. So that was a really nice gesture – a really nice thing to do.
“It’s sad, absolutely strange, because he is the only captain I had here at Liverpool, but I think it is exciting for him as well. We will miss him, without a shadow of a doubt, that’s clear.”
Henderson, who moved from Sunderland to Merseyside in 2011, left Liverpool’s training facility in Germany last week after the two sides reached an initial £12 million agreement.
“Hendo is a really good package,” added Klopp.”
“There is the physical part, but there is the super-technical part. He is technically really, really good. Which sometimes players, because of the role they see themselves on the pitch, this fighter and stuff like this, don’t always show.”
