England manager Gareth Southgate says he has spoken to Jordan Henderson about his future on the international stage, claiming the door remains open after his move to Saudi Arabia.
Henderson completed his £12m switch to Al-Ettifaq last week – bringing his 12-year stay at Anfield to an end. He joined the Reds from Sunderland in 2011 and racked up 492 appearances, scored 33 goals, and recorded 57 assists across all competitions.
The England international helped Liverpool clinch several titles including the Champions League, Premier League, Club World Cup, and FA Cup.
Prior to his move to the Gulf State, many speculated that heading to a lower-profile league could spell the end for the 33-year-old’s time with England but Southgate says Henderson contacted him before moving to the Middle East to discuss whether his future with England will be impacted.
“I spoke to him in the summer, the question he wanted to know was, ‘if I move here, are you going to automatically rule me out?’,” Southgate told talkSPORT.
“We would be stupid to do that. Why would we rule anyone out based on where they are playing? We have got to see how they are playing.
“We have an idea of what that league will look like but we won’t know until we actually start to see the games.
“If you asked me three months ago what that league would look like, I’d have a very different idea to what it is looking like as more and more players decide to go there. Big-name players but not so many that are in the prime of their careers but not players past their sell-by date.
“I think that whole project is fascinating for where it is going to head and what that might look like over the next few years.
But Henderson won’t be playing in the Premier League. He won’t play in the Champions League, which is the easiest assessment for the level he is playing at.”
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