Jurgen Klopp reveals when he found out Jordan Henderson may leave Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp admitted he’s come to terms with Jordan Henderson’s Liverpool departure - as negotiations have been onging ‘for a while’.

The Reds captain has officially departed to join Saudia Arabia side Al-Ettifaq in a £12 million deal. Henderson reunited with Kop legend Steven Gerrard in the Gulf state.

Henderson joined Liverpool from Sunderland in 2011. During his 12 years at Anfield, he was won seven major trophies - including skippering the Reds to Champions League glory in 2019 before hoisting the Premier League trophy aloft a year later.

The 33-year-old departed Liverpool’s pre-season training camp in Germany last week but said goodbye to his team-mates and staff after they arrived back on Monday.

Speaking to Liverpool’s club website, Klopp said: “In the moment, it is absolutely fine but it was already ongoing for a while now, so we had time to adapt to it and get used to it. It is football, it is life, it is normal, these kind of things happen. Monday when we arrived back in Liverpool, Hendo was waiting for us to say goodbye properly to the team and to the coaching staff as well, so that was a really nice gesture - a really nice thing to do.

“I know it was a really, really tough decision for Hendo and I was around or with him all the way. It's sad, absolutely strange, because he is the only captain I had here at Liverpool, but I think it is exciting for him as well. We will miss him, without a shadow of a doubt, that's clear - as a man and as a player. But, as I said, that's football.”