'Blew up in his face' - Jamie Carragher reveals private Jordan Henderson talks before Liverpool exit

Jamie Carragher has hinted that he discouraged Jordan Henderson from moving to Saudi Arabia when conceding his decision to leave Liverpool ‘blew up in his face’.

The former Reds captain controversially left Anfield to sign for Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq in a £12m move last summer, only to cancel his contract and join Ajax in January after just half a season. Enduring a difficult campaign with both, the 33-year-old was then left out of Gareth Southgate’s 33-man preliminary England squad ahead of Euro 2024 as a result.

Carragher played with Henderson at Anfield for two seasons prior to his own retirement in 2013. And revealing that he spoke to the 33-year-old prior to his move to Saudi Arabia, he conceded that the midfielder should have stayed put at Liverpool.

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“It’s a brave decision by Gareth, people have been calling for him not to be in the squad for a long time,” Carragher said, speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.

“I just want to say this about Jordan - I spoke to him when he made the move to Saudi. I spoke to him, gave him my idea and what I thought of it.

“But sometimes you live and die by your decisions. It’s a little bit like Michael Owen when he went to Real Madrid – you think something good is going to happen.

“I’m looking at Anfield on Sunday, and it’s not just Jurgen Klopp leaving, it’s Thiago [Alcantara], [Joel] Matip, and they’re getting this big send-off.

“He’s the guy [Jordan Henderson] that’s lifted all the trophies for Liverpool, he’s almost just a little bit forgotten now – he made a bad decision going there [Al-Ettifaq]. I’m not talking about the off the field stuff, I’m talking about the football.

“He should have stayed at Liverpool, he deserved a send-off. You live and die by your decisions, and it blew up in his face.”

Meanwhile, Carragher also revealed why Henderson didn’t feature in Sky Sports’ video tributes for departing manager Jurgen Klopp, sharing that the former Liverpool midfielder ‘wasn’t himself’ when the two last exchanged messages.

“I spoke to Jordan weeks ago, on the text, and it was about putting something together for Jurgen Klopp, for Sky Sports,” he said. “I could tell he wasn’t himself, and people have made a big deal about when they’ve watched it [the Klopp tribute video], saying ‘Well why isn’t Jordan Henderson on it?’

“It was sort of through me, and I get the feeling he was just thinking, ‘I’m not speaking to the press’. I don’t know what the performances have been like, the results, I know it’s not been a great season for Ajax.

“That’s why they brought him in initially in January. I think there was an interview where a Dutch guy really put it on him, sort of said, ‘Your performance was really [bad], or something’.

“I could just feel, and I didn’t push him too much on the whole, ‘Can we organise this interview’ – I just – you know what, he’s had a lot of stick the last 12 months, and some people might think rightly with the move to Saudi and now Ajax.

“I feel a little bit for Jordan Henderson, I don’t think he deserves it. I know him personally, there’s a lot of great footballers, Jordan’s a great footballer, but there’s less great footballers who are proper men, a proper lad. He’s a good lad, Jordan.”