For a brief second, I had wondered if maybe Jordan Henderson and Xabi Alonso had shared the pitch as Liverpool teammates at some point. Turns out, they missed each other by two seasons: Alonso left for Real Madrid in 2009 while Henderson arrived from Sunderland in 2011.
But now, the two Liverpool icons can reunite for Chelsea, albeit as coach and player rather than teammates. Then again, a major part of Hendo’s signing, officially confirmed today, are his non-playing qualities like experience, leadership, and dressing-room presence. The expectation is that he’ll be almost as much of a coach (or mentor) as a player.
The 36-year-old midfielder has signed a two-year contract with the Blues. He was officially released by Brentford last week to become a free agent, after the remaining year of his contract there was canceled by mutual agreement. Henderson was a regular player for the Bees last season, making 32 league appearances. For his career, he’s just six shy of 700 career senior professional appearances.
“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. 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.”
-Jordan Henderson; source: Chelsea FC
Welcome, Hendo! Let’s make Chelsea into a winning team once again!
