Charlie Adam believes that Jordan Henderson still has ‘a lot to give’ at Anfield as the Liverpool captain approaches the end of his 12th season at the club.
The 32-year-old is by far the longest-serving player with the Reds, with only three other members of Jurgen Klopp’s squad having featured for the first team prior to the German’s arrival on Merseyside (Transfermarkt).
The Sunderland native has skippered the club since 2015, having taken over the role from Steven Gerrard, and one of his former teammates believes our number 14 won’t be exiting stage left any time soon.
Speaking to The Mirror on behalf of the EFL’s Together – Supporting Communities initiative, Adam said: “I think Jordan has led Liverpool extremely well; I think he’s been a real leader and captain.
“He’s a lad who’s put everything into his career. He’s been dedicated for a number of years, and he’s been rewarded with such a wonderful career.
“But I don’t believe he’s stopping. I think he’s still got a lot [of time] to go and still got a lot to give to Liverpool. He’s been magnificent… the longer he stays at Liverpool, the more success they will have.”
Plenty of what Adam has said here is quite true – Henderson has been an immense stalwart ever since coming to Liverpool in 2011, racking up a mammoth 480 appearances (Transfermarkt).
Having been landed the unenviable task of replacing a club icon in Gerrard as captain, the 32-year-old has grown into the role, with his innate leadership coming to the fore.
It’s not just on the pitch that this manifests itself either – you only need to look at how he rallied the other Premier League skippers into organising a fund for the NHS to support frontline workers during the pandemic in 2020.
Adam’s also right to suggest that Henderson could keep going at Liverpool for a few more years, particularly when looking at one of his teammates in James Milner, who’s still frequently called upon at the age of 37, five years older than the Sunderland native.
The Reds have several midfielders who are either set to leave the club once their contracts expire in the summer, or youngsters in the formative stage of their senior careers, so keeping a player of the number 14’s experience and leadership seems imperative for the medium-term at least.