Former Liverpool Captain Jordan Henderson Set For Shock Premier League Transfer as Chelsea Lead The Race

Jordan Henderson has bounced around several different clubs since he left Liverpool in the summer of 2023. However, today the 36-year-old has been linked with a sensational move from one Premier League side to another in what can only be described as an unexpected career revival back to the summit of the Premier League.

When Jordan Henderson left back in 2023, it was a very surprising move for many, as he was club captain at the time and still considered a key member of manager Jurgen Klopp's side at the time. However, going into the 2023/24 season, it was expected that Henderson was going to play a lesser role on the pitch for The Reds and would become a player who would come on late and help to see a game out.

This wasn't a role that Henderson was overly keen on having, with ambitions still of getting into Gareth Southgate's Euro 2024 squad at the forefront of his mind. So Henderson left the club and moved to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq, who at the time were managed by former Reds legend Steven Gerrard.

Many were puzzled at this choice, with the Saudi Pro League not being considered a very high level of football, meaning it was deemed an uphill task for Henderson to get into Southgate's squad while playing in that league, with it looking from the outside as a money-motivated move for the Sunderland-born midfielder.

Additionally, Henderson received a high quantity of backlash for the move due to his previous commitment and support to the LGBTQ+ community and Saudi Arabia having strict laws against same-sex relationships. 

Henderson's Saudi Arabia stint wouldn't last long, as he would end up leaving in January 2024 for Dutch side Ajax. Ajax were enduring a very poor season by their standards and were hoping the addition of the experienced title-winning Jordan Henderson would help stabilise the club through this season. Ajax would go on to finish 5th that season, before helping be a part of a side that almost won the title the following year, missing out by just one point to eventual winners PSV Eindhoven.

Henderson would then leave the Dutch Giants as a free agent and sign for Brentford, where he has spent the last season being a key figure for Keith Andrews' side as they went on to record their joint-highest finish in the Premier League of 9th place. 

So now, following a successful season back in the Premier League and being part of Thomas Tuchel's England Squad for the World Cup, he has now attracted the interest of a few clubs, most notably Chelsea.

The West London club are now managed by former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, and he is looking to add some experience to his massively inexperienced squad, and it would appear that midfield is the target area for this.

Chelsea already made an approach for Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka earlier in the window, who is a player that Alonso worked with at Bayer Leverkusen, but Sunderland turned down the approach for their club captain, making it clear that he wasn't for sale.

It now appears that Chelsea instead wishes to sign Henderson from Brentford, according to Fabrizio Romano. Romano goes on to say that Henderson is able to leave Brentford on a free transfer this summer and that the England international is open to the move. 

This would represent a massive turn of events for Henderson, from a player who seemed like he had ended his top-level Premier League career when he departed Merseyside in 2023 to moving to Chelsea to work under Xabi Alonso in 2026.

But Henderson does offer invaluable experience and a pedigree of winning major titles, and he could be a game-changer for a Chelsea side that was severely lacking in that department last campaign.