Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has defended Jordan Henderson’s right to make his own career choices even if they are not always “perfect”.
Klopp’s former Champions League and Premier League-winning captain has left Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq just six months after departing Anfield to return to Europe with Ajax.
Henderson’s lucrative move to a country where same-sex relationships are illegal was heavily criticised in the UK as he had previously been a high-profile supporter of LGBTQ+ rights.
And while Klopp avoided the controversy which surrounded that, he said the 33-year-old was entitled to go where he felt it benefited him the most.
"People are really critical of Hendo about the move, first there and now coming back,” said Klopp.
“I don’t know how we dare, always judging these kind things. We have one life and we have to make decisions and sometimes our decisions are perfect in the first case and sometimes it is different after you made them.
“He was there and it was 100 per cent an interesting experience and I spoke to him and 99 per cent of football things there were absolutely fine.
Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson wearing a rainbow coloured captain’s armband in support of the Rainbow Laces campaign (Peter Powell/PA)
“There are many things to develop in the future but (he was) never really critical or saying: ‘It’s not possible that that’s not there’, but then he thought it is better for him and the family to come back to Europe and now he is at Ajax Amsterdam, a sensational club in a difficult moment.
“I’m happy for him as it looks like he is happy and that is the most important thing to me.
“He is going to Holland where he can enjoy his football definitely again. The family will feel wonderful because the city is absolutely outstanding.
“I will definitely talk to him in these few days but he has a few things to do which are more important.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here