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LONDON. – Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has joined Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq.
The England midfielder, 33, has moved in a deal worth £12m plus add-ons.
In a goodbye video a day earlier, Henderson had announced that he would be leaving the club after 12 years during which he won the Premier League and Champions League.
“Everyone at the club wishes to place on record their thanks and gratitude for everything Jordan did for us,” said a Liverpool statement.
Henderson had been at Liverpool since joining from Sunderland in a deal worth £20m in June 2011.
He played 492 times for the Reds, scoring 33 goals and registering 57 assists, and won seven major trophies with the club.
“You are a legend,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in a video on the club’s social media channels.
“I know people say recently we use that word slightly too often. I can tell you, that it’s not in your case.”
Henderson, who has signed a deal running until 2026 with Al-Ettifaq, will link up again with ex-Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who is manager of the Saudi Pro League side.
The pair were team-mates at the Anfield club before Gerrard left in 2015.
“I know it was a really, really tough decision for Hendo and I was around or with him all the way,” Klopp told Liverpool’s website.
“It’s sad, absolutely strange, because he is the only captain I had here at Liverpool, but I think it is exciting for him as well.
“We will miss him, without a shadow of a doubt, that’s clear – as a man and as a player. But, as I said, that’s football.”
Henderson became Liverpool captain in 2015 and led the side to Champions League victory in 2019 before they went on to win the Uefa Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup later that year.
He was also the Reds skipper when the club won the 2019-20 Premier League to end a 30-year wait for the English top-flight title.
Henderson’s other honours at Liverpool include winning the FA Cup in 2022 and League Cup in 2012 and 2022. – BBC Sport
Online Reporter