Jürgen Klopp said little on the unwanted disruption to his reconstruction of Liverpool’s midfield, uncharacteristically, but enough to confirm that Jordan Henderson and Fabinho can leave with his blessing. It is a cold reality that the money on offer from Saudi Arabia suits not only the players involved.
“I don’t know that anything is decided, which means nothing to say in the moment,” the Liverpool manager said after his team’s first pre-season friendly against Karlsruher on Wednesday. “In the end all of these decisions are made by me. And because I respect the players a lot, it’s usually with consent. It was in this case and it is all fine.”
Klopp will no doubt say more on the midfielders and the reasons for his consent in the near future. Barring a late and unexpected change of heart, Henderson will be reunited with Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq and Fabinho will join Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kanté and Jota – the Celtic winger – at Al-Ittihad within days.
Liverpool stand to pocket at least £52m, while the players line theirs. Henderson is believed to have been offered a two-year contract with the option of a third on £700,000 a week. The 33-year-old has two years remaining on a £200,000-a-week contract and no assurances he will remain a regular starter next season after several conversations over his future with Klopp.
One guarantee for Henderson is the intense criticism he will receive for joining the exodus of ageing pros to Saudi. He may well feel unfairly singled out as football’s only equivalent of a LIV golfer, the criticism starting the moment his head was turned, but accusations of hypocrisy and betrayal are entirely justified given his previous support for the LGBTQ+ community. The midfielder will have been acutely aware of the impact of his decision before giving the green light to Al-Ettifaq’s approach.
The man who lifted seven trophies during eight years as Liverpool captain deserves better than a grubby end to an illustrious 12-year career at Anfield, exiting without fanfare from a remote pre-season training camp in the Black Forest to iron out the move. Even Naby Keïta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain received framed highlights of their Liverpool careers from Sir Kenny Dalglish at a packed Anfield before saying goodbye. Then again, the LGBTQ+ community he pledged to stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” alongside deserves much better too.
Klopp has his reasons to be dismayed by the probable exits of Fabinho and Henderson, despite his conciliatory words on the subject so far and the boost to his transfer budget.
Liverpool’s planned midfield overhaul was proceeding smoothly with excellent, early signings in Alexis Mac Allister for an impressive £35m and the coveted Dominik Szoboszlai for £60m. Two young but experienced additions to the first team more than compensate for the departures of James Milner, Keïta and Oxlade-Chamberlain. There were plans for a third midfielder even before the Saudi Pro League advance on Anfield, with Southampton’s Roméo Lavia seen as one potential long-term replacement for Fabinho in the holding role. Lavia remains of interest, but Al-Ittihad’s £40m move for the Brazil international has forced Liverpool to explore more experienced options than the 19-year-old. Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucouré and the longtime target Ryan Gravenberch, of Bayern Munich, are on a lengthy list.
Losing Fabinho and Henderson was not part of the plan, however, especially with pre-season well under way, and there is also interest from Saudi clubs in Luis Díaz and Thiago Alcântara. Fabinho started 31 Premier League games last season despite a loss of form that was eventually recovered in the final months. Henderson featured in 35 of 38 league games, 23 from the start, and remains an invaluable leader for Klopp. Both players are ingrained in the manager’s methods.
A midfield rebuild was exposed as long overdue last season as Liverpool languished in fifth and failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in seven years. But ripping it up entirely and starting again is not what Klopp had in mind. The manager faces losing his captain and vice-captain, Milner, in the same summer, their considerable influence on dressing room and training standards going with them. The timing of the two anticipated Saudi transfers will also aggrieve Klopp. He has always placed great importance on a settled pre-season and was particularly keen to get incoming transfers completed early. The opposite is now unfolding.
But with £40m for Fabinho and £12m plus add-ons for Henderson Liverpool can recoup what they paid for the players, having had the prime years out of both. The club has lost too many sellable assets on free transfers this summer – Roberto Firmino, who has also moved to Saudi with Al-Ahli, Milner, Keïta and Oxlade-Chamberlain – and are taking steps to ensure there is no repeat with the Brazil and England internationals. Their respective international careers are also likely to suffer as a result of inflating already sizeable bank balances with moves to the Saudi Pro League.
Decisions are expected from both imminently. Liverpool’s response will be crucial to their prospects of becoming contenders again.
