From 610 to 53,000! Jordan Henderson welcomes return to ‘good atmosphere’ at Ajax after going a ‘long time’ without one in the Saudi Pro League

The former Liverpool captain attracted plenty of criticism when leaving Anfield for Al-Ettifaq in the summer of 2023. After a matter of months in the Middle East, which saw him working alongside fellow Reds legend Steven Gerrard, Henderson agreed to the early termination of his contract and returned to Europe.

He is now on the books of Eredivisie giants Ajax, who pulled in 53,744 spectators for his debut appearance against PSV. Henderson had been turning out in front of less than 1,000 at times in Saudi Arabia – with 610 representing an attendance low there – and the England international is pleased to be back in the big time.

He told NOS on seeing packed out stands again: “I thought the atmosphere was amazing from the start to the finish. Really helped the lads I think to keep pushing and trying to find that winner.”

Henderson added after seeing it put to him that the atmosphere in Amsterdam rivals that on Merseyside: “Yeah, it was incredible. I’ve heard the atmosphere’s really good. Especially against PSV and teams like this. But yeah, it was really good atmosphere, really special. It was a long time since I played in an atmosphere like that, so I really enjoyed that.”

Henderson has stopped short of criticising the Saudi Pro League since walking away – with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane still plying their trade in that division – but appears to have accepted that he made a questionable career call when agreeing to sever ties with Liverpool.