Brentford confirm signing of England midfielder Henderson

Brentford have confirmed the signing of England midfielder Jordan Henderson.

Henderson, 35, was a free agent after leaving Dutch club Ajax, who agreed to end his contract early.

He spent 12 years at Liverpool, winning the Premier League – the club’s first league title in 30 years – Champions League, FA Cup and two League Cups.

“What Jordan will bring is that he has been one of the most influential leaders in modern Premier League years. He’s been at the forefront of driving for titles and Champions Leagues at a fantastic football club,” new Bees head coach Keith Andrews told the club website.

“He also has experience at international level with England and, with that, comes a level of experience, professionalism and dedication to his profession – that’s the exact way we want to be as a football club.

“He will drive standards and be a brilliant addition to the squad.”

After controversially leaving Liverpool to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq, he left after just six months and joined Ajax in January 2024.

Henderson has played 84 times for England and a number of clubs were interested in snapping him up this summer.

He will bolster Brentford’s midfield options following the departure of Christian Norgaard, who last week completed a move to Arsenal. 

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

“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.”