It is now three years since Jordan Henderson's Liverpool career came to an end and, fair to say, no one back in the summer of 2023 could have foreseen his subsequent career trajectory. On Monday, the 36 year old completed his move to Chelsea, joining the Blues as a free agent. Upon making the move, the England international had this to say:
"Given the size of the club, the manager, who I have great admiration for, and the quality of the players, this was a huge opportunity I couldn’t turn down. I was also so impressed with how much the ownership want Chelsea to be successful and move in the right direction. For me, it's about giving everything every single day, both on and off the field, to help the players around me and the team as much as possible. I'm very excited to get going."Jordan Henderson joining Chelsea
Henderson will of course link up with former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, who is the new man in charge at Stamford Bridge. After four years of simply collecting every young player they can get their hands on since Clearlake Capital's takeover, Chelsea have seemingly tried to redress that balance, following a tenth place finish.
A few days ago, the Blues signed Danny Welbeck from Brighton & Hove Albion for around £5 million, adding Henderson, a second player born in 1990, to their ranks. Time will tell if the pair are able to make a difference, as Alonso's side aim to get into the Champions League and challenge for silverware.
Jordan Henderson's post-Liverpool career
When Henderson departed Liverpool in the summer of 2023, most assumed this was the last we had seen of him at the highest level. During his 12 year career on Merseyside, named captain when Steven Gerrard departed in 2015, he won eight major honours, and will forever be the man who lifted the Champions League trophy in Madrid and the club's first Premier League title for three decades.
Three summers ago, he reunited with Gerrard in Saudi Arabia, joining Al-Ettifaq to grow the game in the Middle East. The fact they agreed to pay him £700,000-per-week, which more than tripled his salary, had nothing to do with it at all... honest! Well, after only 19 appearances for the club, his family never settling in Dammām, he joined Ajax in January 2024. To avoid paying taxes on all his Saudi earnings, Henderson could not return to the UK for a year.
Thus, as a pure coincidence, he spent 18 months in Amsterdam, featuring 57 times for the club. Ajax missed out on the Eredivisie by a point in 2024/25 following an historic collapse, yielding just five points from the last 15 available while PSV won seven in a row to overtake them.
Last summer, Henderson returned to the Premier League joining Brentford, for whom he was a solid performer, appearing 34 times. As rookie manager Keith Andrew succeeded Thomas Frank in West London, the veteran midfielder was key for the Bees from a leadership point of view. Manager Thomas Tuchel certainly agreed, always keeping the 36 year old in his England squad, taking him to the World Cup, albeit he did only see six minutes against Panama before breaking his arm at the Azteca.
Well, such is the mystique around the value that Henderson brings off the pitch, it has convinced Chelsea to give him a two-year deal. How much he will play for the Blues remains to be seen. Chelsea do not have European competition to contend with, which means far less games, while midfield is the strongest part of their squad, competing with Enzo Fernández and Moisés Caicedo for minutes.
When Chelsea visit Anfield in May, it will be fascinating to see what sort of reception he receives. Fernando Torres was never really forgiven for moving to Chelsea, so will Henderson?
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