1 year ago
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Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Hours after widespread and reliable reports suggested Henderson could end up with Al-Ettifaq it appears that may not in fact be the case.
Mere hours after a flurry of reports from some of Liverpool’s most reliable club-connected journalists broke suggesting current club captain Jordan Henderson could end up heading to Saudi Arabia to join former club captain Steven Gerrard, it appears that story will come to nothing.
At least that’s the latest on the situation according to CBS Sports regular Ben Jacobs, who claims an exclusive on the matter and says the player is only focused on preparing to spend the 2023-24 season with Liverpool ahead of a 2024 Euros where he will be expected to represent England.
A move to Saudi would have hurt his chances at the latter, and given the chatter had Al-Ettifaq only offering Henderson an extra year and 50% raise vs. his current Liverpool deal, it always seemed a strange story—yet the way it broke and who was breaking it meant it had to be taken seriously.
In fact, because of that it’s probably still too early to declare it over. Jacobs is a largely reliable journalist not knowing for pushing stories in bad faith, but the earlier news had the appearance of being a briefing that would have come either from Liverpool or individuals close to Henderson.
This might be the end of it all, then—but thinking that it’s certain that it is could also be somewhat wishful thinking. The next few days, then, will be telling for determining if this really is the end to a strange and exceptionally brief saga or if there’s still a chance of more to come.
