Jordan Henderson has opened up on his ‘tough’ start to life at Liverpool when he joined the Reds from his boyhood club Sunderland back in 2011.
Sir Kenny Dalglish signed the England international for £16m in a move that certainly raised a few eyebrows at the time, but after almost being sold by Brendan Rodgers when he took over at Anfield in 2012, the 32-year-old has gone onto win every major trophy at the club as captain.
Speaking to ex-Red Joe Cole, Henderson admitted that he struggled to perform at the level he wanted to when initially moving to Merseyside but insists that those struggles helped make him the player he is today.
“The first few years were really tough,” he told BT Sport.
“Coming to a big club like Liverpool, moving away and you don’t realise how big Liverpool Football Club is until you’re actually in it and the expectation level.
“I still played quite a lot of games but probably wasn’t performing to the level that I felt I could and the level people expected.
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“It was tough and it was challenging, definitely in the first year or two at the club but I would never take that pain away, I needed that really.
“It made us stronger, it made us who I am now. To go through that stage it was tough, but when you do come through it you’re a lot stronger for it so I would never take that away.”
Our No. 14 arrived at Anfield at what was a difficult time for the club.
He struggled for consistency and many questioned what his purpose in the team was, but after we came close to Premier League glory during the 2013/14 season, it was clear that the midfielder had a future at Liverpool.
Following Steven Gerrard’s departure for LA Galaxy in the summer of 2015, the captain’s armband was handed to Henderson and it’s fair to say that he hasn’t done too badly since.
He’s made 455 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 33 times and registering 55 assists during that time.
With us having a far from convincing start to the season, many have began to question the skipper’s ability but one thing that is never in doubt is his work rate and effort out on the pitch.
He’s sidelined with a hamstring injury at the moment but the hope is that he’ll be back to full fitness when domestic football returns after the impending international break.
He’s been an integral part of the side ever since Jurgen Klopp took over as Liverpool boss in 2015 and we’re hoping to see him lift yet more silverware for the club this season.
You can catch the full interview below via BT Sport’s YouTube channel: