Ajax midfielder Jordan Henderson was embroiled in a heated press conference altercation with a reporter following Sunday's Eredivisie clash against Feyenoord.
The 34-year-old, who joined Ajax in January last year – just six months after leaving Saudi club Al Ettifaq – has been heavily linked with a transfer to AS Monaco in recent days.
In fact, widespread reports emerged last week suggesting the former Liverpool and Sunderland midfielder had asked to leave Ajax to join the Ligue 1 outfit.
Henderson did not captain the team in their Europa League clash against Galatasaray on Thursday but he did wear the armband on Sunday when Ajax took on Feyenoord.
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Speaking to ESPN after Sunday's game, the England international strenuously denied rumours about requesting to leave Ajax, saying "a lot of things were taken out of context" by the press and "untruths" were told about him as a person.
"Everyone knows the club's financial situation. Money has to be created and that can be done by letting big earners leave," Henderson began.
"I am one of the big earners. It's often about my salary in the media. The situation was that we had to decide whether it was worth pivoting or keeping my salary in this case.
"Those were difficult conversations. I said what I thought, but we jointly came to the conclusion that I should stay. I am happy with that. I will give everything for the club and the team.
"Of course I am happy to stay. My plan was to stay here at least until the end of the season and then re-evaluate. A lot of things were taken out of context in the press. That was disrespectful, they were lies.
"Untruths were told about me as a person. I tried to focus, but it feels painful. People may criticise me because of my game, but when it gets personal ... I am a human being with family, parents, a wife and children. If they read things in the press that are not true, that is going too far. I don't know what their sources are, but it is not true."
Later on, Henderson became embroiled in a heated press conference argument with a number of reporters, including Mike Verweij from Dutch publication De Telegraaf.
As you can see from the footage below, the midfielder was asked why he wanted to move to Monaco.
Henderson replied: "Based on what, again? The coach told you that I wanted to go to Monaco because I had a big offer? That's not true. No."
Asked if it was true that Ajax wanted to sell him, Henderson said: "Well, they were negotiating so I imagine they did, yeah... they were negotiating a fee. It's not about about the details. I'm not giving you details.
"I know the truth," he added. "I know what happened. I'm not here to give you details, I'm just saying from my side..."
After being interrupted by the reporter, who once again asked for details about the conversation with Ajax, Henderson replied: "I don't need to, you can though. It sounds like you can."
Henderson was asked if he was convinced to stay by Ajax head coach Francesco Farioli.
"It wasn't him and he didn't need to convince me," he replied. "Nobody convinced me. Again, you're going into the detail. It's not about the detail."
Asked again to give the details, Henderson was adamant. "I don't need to," he said. "I don't need to sit here and defend. You don’t know the information."
Topics: Jordan Henderson, Ajax, Eredivisie
Jack Kenmare