Brentford sign former-Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson

LONDON — Brentford have confirmed the signing of Premier League and Champions League winning Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson on a two-year contract.

Henderson, an England international with 84 caps for the Three Lions, joins the Bees on a free transfer after departing Ajax this summer.

As per reports, Brentford had wrapped the deal last week but Henderson asked for the announcement to be postponed following the passing of his former teammate Diogo Jota. The England midfielder joins the Bees as a replacement after Christian Norgaard joined Arsenal.

The midfielder returns to the Premier League after short stints in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ettifaq and then in the Netherlands with Ajax.

Prior to that, Henderson was with Liverpool where he spent 12 years and won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, two League Cups, Community Shield, Super Cup and Club World Cup.

Brentford head coach Keith Andrews said, “When we became aware of Jordan’s availability, it was a pretty simple decision.

“We did our due diligence around his recent games to see where he is: he’s still phenomenally fit and he’s still phenomenally motivated to achieve things in the game, having already achieved a lot.

“With the void of experienced players leaving the building - Christian Norgaard, Mark Flekken and Ben Mee - it was important to replace that."

Henderson began his career with boyhood club Sunderland, where he made his Premier League debut as an 18-year-old and, after a loan spell in the Championship with Coventry City in 2008/09, he went on to make a further 70 top-flight appearances for the Black Cats.

A move to Liverpool followed, where he played 492 games and scored 33 goals, before replacing Steven Gerrard as Reds captain in 2015.

As skipper, he lifted six trophies, including the Champions League after victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

Henderson was also named FWA Footballer of the Year at the end of the 2019/20 campaign and included in the PFA Team of the Year.

At international level, Henderson has played 84 times for England after making his debut in 2010. He was also named England Senior Men's Player of the Year in 2019.

The 35-year-old has featured at three World Cups, starting the Three Lions’ semi-final defeat to Croatia in 2018, and scored in the 3-0 win over Senegal in the round-of-16 win in 2022.

He has also played at three European Championships, with the most recent of those coming in 2021, when England lost the final to Italy at Wembley Stadium.

Henderson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to football and to charity.