Al Ettifaq and England midfielder Jordan Henderson has denied that he was motivated to leave Liverpool for Saudi Arabia for financial reasons.
At the end of July, the 33-year-old closed his Anfield chapter after 12 years of service to the Reds in order to join Al Ettifaq, who are managed by former Reds skipper Steven Gerrard.
The former Sunderland man joined former teammates Roberto Firmino and Fabinho in Saudi Arabia - alongside other high-profile names such as Neymar, Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante - despite the country's well-documented human rights record.
As a result, Henderson's departure to the Middle East attracted enormous criticism, particularly from the LGBTQ+ community, whom the midfielder was a staunch supporter of during his time in the Premier League.
Following his call-up to Gareth Southgate's latest England squad, 3LIONSPRIDE - an LGBTQ+ group - have stated that they will no longer support Henderson individually during international fixtures, claiming that his legacy "can never be won back".
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The midfielder has now broken his silence for the first time during a detailed interview with The Athletic, during which he denied reports stating that he was earning £700,000 a week in the Saudi Pro League and claimed that his departure was purely for playing reasons.
"People will see this club come with loads of money and he's just gone, "Yeah, I'm going." When in reality that just wasn't the case at all. People can believe me or not, but in my life and my career, money has never been a motivation. Ever," Henderson said.
"Don't get me wrong, when you move, the business deal has to be tight. You have to have financials, you have to feel wanted, you have to feel valued. And money is a part of that. But that wasn't the sole reason. And these possibilities came up before money was even mentioned.
"No, honestly, the numbers just aren't true. But again, it had to work out for us financially as well. I'm not saying that it didn't and I'm not saying, "Oh, I'm not on good money" because it's good money and it was a good deal but it wasn't the numbers that were reported. No.
"Stevie never mentioned money. Everything I spoke to Stevie about was football and the project. And he actually said he didn't want to get involved in any of the money stuff. It was all about what we could do together to achieve something special and build a club and build the league."
During his final campaign in a Liverpool jersey, Henderson played 43 times in all competitions and started 23 Premier League matches, but Jurgen Klopp had prioritised a midfield overhaul for the 2023-24 season.
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Ryan Gravenberch, Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister all arrived on Merseyside this summer, and while Henderson admits that he would have stayed at Liverpool had the club made an effort to keep him, he no longer felt wanted at the club.
"If one of those people said to me, 'Now we want you to stay', then we wouldn't be having this conversation. And I have to then think about what's next for me in my career," Henderson added.
"Now, that's not to say that they forced me out of the club or they were saying they wanted me to leave but at no point did I feel wanted by the club or anyone to stay.
"I'm at the latter stage of my career and I want to be happy playing football. I want to play. I don't want to be sitting on the bench and coming on for 10 minutes in games. And I knew that would have an effect on my chances of playing for England.
"I was working so hard and people saw the shape that I came back in. But when I got back, it was still the same situation, which made me think, "Actually, this time, does it matter what I do?"
Henderson has already registered two assists in four appearances while wearing the captain's armband for Al Ettifaq, and the 33-year-old is now gearing up for England's upcoming clashes with Ukraine and Scotland on September 9 and 12 respectively.
Ben Knapton
