Jordan Henderson has been reunited with his Liverpool teammates this week during a visit to the AXA Training Centre.
The former club captain was spotted catching up with his old colleagues at Kirkby, having missed Ajax’s Europa League clash with Slavia Prague on Thursday night due to a groin problem. Henderson made nearly 500 appearances during his 11-year stint at Liverpool, winning seven major trophies, but he controversially left the club in the summer of 2023 to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq.
The move sparked outrage in some quarters of the fanbase owing to the midfielder’s previous advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community, with homosexuality still against the law in Saudi Arabia. However, Henderson spent just six months playing under Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard at Al- Ettifaq before his contract was mutually terminated, leading to a January move to Ajax.
It is not the first time Henderson has returned to Kirkby, with the midfielder having taken part in an intense one-on-one fitness session at the venue back in April. Since leaving Liverpool, Henderson has acknowledged that it was the right time for both himself and the club to part ways, despite the decision being a difficult one.
“Looking back, I think it was the right time for me as a player (to leave) but also for them as a team and for them as a club, as much as that hurt at the time,” he told The Times in March.
“I was very emotional. Looking back in that period of time, looking back now, it is easy to see that it was the right decision made by the manager and the club. It was the best decision to freshen things up. If you look at Virgil becoming captain, Trent becoming vice-captain, and how they’ve stepped up again this season, I think it has given them another lift.
“It was the best thing for the club and the team, and you can see that in the performances and how they’ve done, as much as that hurts me.”
