Jordan Henderson’s reputation has taken a beating in the past 18 months but our former captain came out swinging in a press conference this weekend.
Following Ajax’s dramatic win over Feyenoord, the 34-year-old was posed with several questions about the recent story surrounding a possible move to Monaco.
It was clear that the Sunderland-born midfielder wanted to ensure that his side of the story came out, as he did exactly what Wesley Sneijder had requested from him.
From what the England international was saying, it appears that he was putting across his side of the tale and that both teams were negotiating a price for his services.
This debunks the theory that our former No.14 was pushing for an exit on a free and threatening not to play again if the deal wasn’t completed.
The reason for him not being captain of the Dutch giants during their most recent Europa League game was because he felt the club wanted him to leave and didn’t think he should wear the armband.
Due to the tone of the questions and answers though, it seems like all parties don’t agree with his reasoning and it led to a very heated press conference.
Jordan Henderson came out fighting with the press
(Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
The ex-Al-Ettifaq man lost a great deal of respect within the game when he swapped Anfield for Saudi Arabia, when it appeared that Jurgen Klopp wanted to reduce his game time and begin a midfield rebuild.
This is a real shame to see as the man who spent 12 years as a Red is now fighting for his credibility but did so in superb fashion.
Simply coming out, fighting his corner and explaining that he didn’t feel wanted by the club and so felt like he should be their captain but would still give 100% – it was a refreshingly honest exchange.
That is admirable, the choice of destination after Merseyside wasn’t – nothing is black and white but the leader and honourable man who lifted so many trophies in a red shirt still exists and this was a glimpse of the old Hendo.
