In a recent edition of Sky Bet’s On The Overlap, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher revealed exchanging concerning texts with his former teammate Jordan Henderson after the Ajax midfielder’s name was not included in Gareth Southgate’s 33-man provisional England squad for this summer’s Euro 2024.
Carragher said,
“I spoke to Jordan [Henderson] weeks ago, on the text, and it was about putting something together for Jurgen 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’.”
Carragher went on to add,
“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.”
Henderson won the Premier League title and the UEFA Champions League trophy with Liverpool before deciding to leave the Merseyside club to join Saudi outfit Al-Ettifaq last summer. He managed to pick up five assists in 19 appearances for the Saudi outfit this season across all fronts.
The 33-year-old sealed a permanent move to Ajax last January and has managed to produce a few influential displays at the heart of their midfield recently. Henderson has secured three assists in 12 matches for the Dutch club so far in all competitions.
At 33, Henderson is a player on the decline. Thus, it is no surprise that England manager Gareth Southgate has opted to exclude him from his Euro 2024 squad this summer.
