Jordan Henderson explains Saudi move, LFC exit and offers LGBTQ+ apology | OneFootball

Speaking for the first time since leaving Liverpool for Saudi Arabia, Jordan Henderson has given his reasoning for doing so.

The England international sat down with The Athletic to share his side of the move.

Firstly, he claimed that the transfer was not financially motivated and came down to no longer feeling wanted at Anfield, where he would be set for a reduced role going forward.

“There were some things that set alarm bells ringing. I’ve got a very good relationship with Jürgen [Klopp], who was very honest with me and he told me I wasn’t going to be playing as much,” he told The Athletic.

“If I’m not playing, than can be quite difficult for me, especially when I’ve been at the club for so long and when England’s such a big thing for me. I felt that my value or the want for me to stay, with the manager and the club, had maybe shifted and I had to accept that. It was hard for me to take that.

“If one of those people said ‘now we want you to stay’ then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. It’s not to say they forced me out or wanted me to leave but at no point did I feel wanted by the club or anyone to stay.

“I’m at the latter stage of my career and I want to be happy. I want to play, not sit on the bench and come on for 10 minutes and I knew my England chances would be affected.

“The hardest thing is that people will see the money and make their mind up when in reality that wasn’t the case at all. People can believe me or not but money has never been a motivation for me. Ever. When you move, the business deal has to be right and you need to have financials and feel wanted and value.

“Money is a part of that but it wasn’t the sole reason. Am I earning £700,000 per week? No, I wish I was! Those numbers aren’t true. I’m not saying that I’m not on good money because it is good money and it was a good deal but it wasn’t what was reported.”

In addition to criticism for moving for monetary reasons, Henderson has also faced backlash for the switch from the LGBTQ+ community, for which he had been a strong ambassador – and he has now issued an apology.

“I can understand the frustration and anger. I get it. All I can say is that I’m sorry that they feel like that. My intention was never, ever to hurt anyone but to help causes and communities where they’ve asked for my help,” he added.

“I tried to look at it as though, by myself not going, we can bury our heads in the sand and criticise different cultures and countries from afar but then nothing will happen or change. People know my views and values before I left and still do. Having someone like that in Saudi Arabia is only a positive thing.

“There’s never been any mention of ‘you can say this or can’t say this’. It has basically been ‘you have your values and beliefs which we’ll respect but you respect ours’ and surely that’s the way it should be.”