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Despite calls for him to be dropped, England manager Gareth Southgate has made it clear that he will not stop selecting Jordan Henderson just because he plays in Saudi Arabia
England manager Gareth Southgate has rejected the “stupid” notion that he will stop selecting former Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson for the national team simply because he now plays in the Saudi Pro League.
Henderson’s place in the national team under scrutiny after Saudi Arabia move
Henderson, who has been capped 77 times already by the Three Lions, recently completed a €15 million transfer from Liverpool to Al-Ettifaq to team up with another Liverpool legend, Steven Gerrard, and has recently come under criticism for the move.
While most of the criticism has come from people declaring him a hypocrite for defending LGBTQ+ rights while moving to a country that demonises the group, others have also suggested that the former Liverpool captain should lose his place for moving to a less competitive league.
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With England enjoying a boom in midfield with the likes of Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice entering defining eras for their careers, many wonder if it is time for Henderson to leave the national team to make way for a new generation, especially after the 33-year-old’s move to Saudi Arabia.
Southgate, however, believes that should not be the case, and believes that he needs to assess the midfielder’s quality rather than selecting his future teams based on where the players plied their trade.
Southgate will not stop selecting Henderson for moving to Saudi Arabia
The England gaffer was keen to impress this on Henderson in a conversation he had with the midfielder, which he revealed to Talk Sports, saying, “We know the qualities he [Henderson] has, we know how much playing for England means to him. The question he wanted to know is ‘if I move here, will you rule me out’?”
“Why would we rule any player out based on where they're playing? That would be stupid. We need to see how they are playing and how they are physically.”
Southgate also said he would need to reassess the quality of the Saudi Pro League after a recent influx of star players before knowing whether or not the competition was at a good level quality-wise.
“We don’t actually know the level of this league until we actually see the games.
“Three months ago I would have a different idea to now. They have a lot of big name players, maybe not in the prime of their careers, but they’re not players past their sell by date.
“It isn't the Premier League. It's not Champions League football which is the easiest assessment. But the challenge for Jordan Henderson is the same as it always has been, he knows the players he’s up against to get a place in the England team.”
England’s next games are in the September international break window when they will play against Ukraine and Scotland, by which time Southgate will have gotten enough information on the Saudi Pro League to determine Henderson’s eligibility.
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