'He's a serial winner!' - Thomas Tuchel claims controversial Jordan Henderson pick was 'easy' despite huge backlash to first England squad

Experienced midfielder Henderson, who is now playing his club football for Dutch giants Ajax at 34 years of age, has not represented his country since winning the last of his 81 caps in 2023. He was left out of Gareth Southgate’s plans for Euro 2024.

Tuchel has, however, recalled the Premier League title winner when naming his first squad. Many have questioned why the German tactician has called upon Henderson while having so many younger options at his disposal, but the ex-Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager stands by his decision.

Tuchel has said of Henderson, who has "every chance" of gracing the 2026 World Cup: "Jordan is an easy one, he is a serial winner. He is captain of Ajax. He is available and has played a lot of matches. What he brings to every team is leadership, character, personality, energy.

"He makes sure that everyone lives by standards and with this characteristic he embodies everything that we try to build. We try to build a team for our fans and a team that they are proud of and can identity with. Jordan embodies everything that we want from this team."

Tuchel added on how he set about welcoming Henderson back into the England fold: "We had the phone call weeks ago to check in and see how he feels about the idea or whether it was too painful how it ended. It was a video call, so you can see reactions. He appreciated it. For me it was so nice to see his genuine reaction. You can see his pure joy and happiness at the decision. It was very, very, impressive."

Going into further detail on how he pieced together his squad, and why Henderson ultimately got the nod, Tuchel said: "You can be picked on form, on availability, on responsibility, on leadership, on personality. You are maybe picked because someone gets injured, there are different reasons. In the end it is about building a strong group and what you bring beside your talent and being a top professional because that is a given. It's what you bring to this group to make us better as a team."

England will be opening a new era when facing Albania in their first 2026 World Cup qualifier on March 21. They will remain at Wembley Stadium for a clash with Latvia three days later, with Tuchel only committing to an initial 18-month contract that will see him through next summer’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.