Jordan Henderson has joined Chelsea. Photo: Chelsea Football Club.
Chelsea have signed former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson on a free transfer as new coach Xabi Alonso adds another injection of experience into his squad.
Just a few days after the arrival of 35-year-old striker Danny Welbeck, 36-year-old Henderson has put pen to paper at Stamford Bridge.
“Given the size of the club, the manager, who I have great admiration for, and the quality of the players, this was a huge opportunity I couldn’t turn down,” Henderson told the club’s official website.
“I was also so impressed with how much the ownership want Chelsea to be successful and move in the right direction.
“For me, it’s about giving everything every single day, both on and off the field, to help the players around me and the team as much as possible. I’m very excited to get going.”
The England international arrives from Brentford in what he labelled a ‘full circle moment’ for his career.
Henderson actually made his Premier League debut at Stamford Bridge back in November 2008 as his Sunderland side were comfortably beaten 5-0 by Chelsea.
Speaking to Chelsea’s official website, he expressed his excitement for playing under a fellow ex-Reds midfielder in Alonso, who has now made eight signings and rising ahead of this first campaign at the club.
“We had a very good chat,” Henderson says.
“I had huge admiration for Xabi as a player, and now I have huge admiration for him as a manager. What he’s done over the last few years has been pretty special.
“Everyone that I know that has either worked with him or played with him has said very good things. Not one person had a bad thing to say about him. That speaks for him very highly.
“Then when I spoke to him, I got a very good feeling that it would be an honour to come and play under him.”
Henderson added: “I’ve dedicated my life to the game ever since I was a kid, and that’s never changed, really,’ he says.
“I suppose that’s just within me anyway, but then on top of that, of course, there’s outside stuff that goes on that you can use as fuel to prove people wrong.
“I feel like I’ve managed to do that a lot over the course of my career, and I suppose it’ll be part of this opportunity coming here and me playing for Chelsea. I just try and focus on being the best version of myself and helping the team as much as possible.”
The veteran midfielder, who made made 492 appearances with Liverpool in all competitions and is closing in on 700 pro appearances total, joins Welbeck, Valentin Barco, Morgan Rogers, Maxence Lacroix, Geovany Quenda, Marco Palestra and Emmanuel Emegha in joining the Blues this window.
Alonso’s side have now headed to Hong Kong for the next leg of their pre-season tour following clashes against Western Sydney Wanderers and Tottenham in Sydney.
Jake Rosengarten has worked for and led the biggest brands in Australian football. Beginning at Fox Sports Football as a digital producer, he moved on to build Optus Sport’s articles section, before leading the growth of the A-Leagues’ social and editorial footprint. Jake has covered World Cups, male and female, the Premier League, UEFA competitions and the A-Leagues, and is passionate about growing the game he fell in love with in his teens thanks to the influence of mates growing up in Sydney.