Steven Gerrard sheds new light on Jordan Henderson's 'disappointing' exit from Al Ettifaq after six months

Steven Gerrard shed new light on Jordan Henderson’s disappointing Al Ettifaq departure.

Henderson was widely criticised for signing with Saudi club Al Ettifaq in a £12million move from Liverpool last summer.

But the 33-year-old, who was on a reported £700,000 a week contract, struggled to settle into life in the Middle East while he faced criticism from fans in the UK for playing in a country that criminalises same-sex sexual activity and the gender expression of trans people.

Henderson had been a vocal ally of the LGBT community in football and wore rainbow laces during England's run to the Euro 2020 final.

The England star played just 19 times for Al Ettifaq before joining Dutch side Ajax in January.

Henderson’s departure coincided with Gerrard, Al Ettifaq’s manager, signing a two-year contract extension at the club, despite having endured a run of just one win in 11 games.

In an interview with the Telegraph Gerrard refuted the claim that his new contract was to distract from Henderson trying to quit Saudi.

“I can look you right in the eye and say that certainly was not the case,” he said. “The cynics in England were going ‘hang on a minute’ which I understand. But these guys [in Saudi] had seen us work as a group of staff, had seen the team, the spirit and the analytics and were happy with us. That’s what the new contract came off the back off. We are on a journey.”

On Henderson’s decision to leave, Gerrard added: “I respected his decision because I love him as a guy, I love him as a player and I have nothing but ultimate respect for him.

“I was disappointed. Any manager who loses his captain during the season is not ideal and I told Jordan that. But if someone is not settled.

Henderson joined Ajax in January (Getty)

"If someone has some family things that are affecting him. If someone has got different outside goals or opportunities, like England for example, then I have to respect that and understand it. And I do. But was I disappointed? Of course, I was.”

He continued: “I did [try to convince him to stay] but I didn’t overdo that because it had to be Jordan’s decision.

“He’s a big boy and I didn’t want to be someone – for example, if I had convinced him to stay and he felt further down [the line] that it was the wrong decision then I didn’t want to be that person who he was told ‘why did you convince me to stay?’

“It had to be Jordan’s decision. He needed his own time. He needed to go through his own processes. The advice I gave to Jordan was ‘do what’s right for your family’.”