Why Jordan Henderson did not appear in Jürgen Klopp farewell video ahead of Liverpool exit
Jamie Carragher has revealed he approached Jordan Henderson about taking part in a farewell video for Jürgen Klopp. A host of Liverpool players past and present featured in the Sky Sports clip that was shown to Klopp before his final match against Wolves.
Liverpool legends Carragher and Steven Gerrard were both involved, while Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold also paid tribute. Klopp also received messages of gratitude from James Milner and Adam Lallana, who are both no longer at Anfield.
But Henderson was inconspicuous in his absence following his move to Saudi Arabia last summer. The midfielder is now with Ajax but suffered a fresh blow on Tuesday when he was omitted from the England squad for Euro 2024.
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Carragher discussed the farewell video for Klopp on Stick To Football with Sky Bet, and said: “I spoke to Jordan weeks ago, on text, and it was about putting something together for Jürgen Klopp, for Sky Sports.
"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 he was brought 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 organize this interview’ – 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."
Henderson will turn 34 this summer and it appears he will not add to his tally of 81 caps for England. He was left out of Gareth Southgate's provisional squad for the tournament with the England boss admitting his recent injury proved a 'determining factor'.
Carragher added: "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.”
Liverpool.com says: It has been a difficult year for Henderson since leaving Liverpool and he may now be regretting his decision to move on. There is no doubt that he respected Klopp immensely and will forever be grateful for the impact he had on his career. He likely paid his own private tribute away from the cameras.