There was an emotional reaction to the news that
Jordan Henderson faces an uncertain future.
The idea that
Liverpool wouldn’t move heaven and earth to ensure their inspirational captain remains at Anfield beyond the end of his current contract in the summer of 2023 doesn’t sit right with many supporters.
The Athletic revealed on Monday that talks this summer over a new deal haven’t progressed. What’s currently on the table from the club isn’t an attractive proposition for the player, and that has alerted Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid to his potential availability.
Henderson is 31 and will be 33 by the time the contract he’s on now expires. He believes that he will still be just as influential – both on and off the field – into his mid-30s. But given the impasse, it’s clear that some members of the club hierarchy are less convinced.
Many view that stance as disrespectful to a loyal servant whose commanding midfield performances and leadership helped Liverpool follow up
Champions League final glory in 2019 with their first league title for 30 years last summer.
“Just give him what he wants and get it sorted,” was the overriding response from dismayed fans to
The Athletic’s story.
However, some highlighted the business sense in only offering a short extension heavily incentivised with performance-related bonuses, given Henderson’s age and injury record.
It’s a quandary for Liverpool and there are others on the horizon for owner Fenway Sports Group (FSG) to deal with.
Shrewd recruitment enabled manager Jurgen Klopp and sporting director Michael Edwards to assemble an outstanding line-up that landed the biggest prizes, also including the Club World Cup, but now the task of building another great team is underway.
Liverpool are committed to a strategy of evolution rather than revolution. They are wary of finding themselves in a position further down the line where they are having to rip things up and start again.
That’s why a big part of Edwards’ work this summer surrounds getting the club’s gems nailed down to new long-term deals.
Alisson,
Fabinho,
Virgil van Dijk,
Trent Alexander-Arnold and
Andy Robertson are exactly the types who Liverpool view as still being absolutely integral to their hopes of success in three or four years’ time.
But there’s also an acceptance that, over the next 12 months, the process of refreshing and regenerating the personnel around that core group has to be cranked up a few gears.
This is the fifth transfer window since Liverpool won the Champions League in Madrid.
Diogo Jota and
Thiago are the only new arrivals in that period who have played on a regular basis.
Ibrahima Konate, a £35 million summer signing from RB Leipzig, is expected to join them in the coming season. Changes have been minimal but that’s not sustainable.
FSG knows it can’t just sit back and allow too many players to grow old together. That was one of the reasons why it didn’t give 30-year-old Georginio Wijnaldum the contract offer he wanted, leading him to leave when his deal expired and join PSG this summer.
There are other tough decisions ahead.
For example, it’s simply not realistic that Klopp’s long-established front three of
Mohamed Salah,
Sadio Mane and
Roberto Firmino will all have their contracts renewed.
All three are 29 years old and have each entered the final two years of their existing deals. Liverpool can’t have a situation where the three of them are still on the books at age 33, continuing to be paid huge salaries while way past their best. But the club also can’t have a situation where they are trying to replace all three at around the same time, as the cost in terms of transfers would be huge.
The process has to be staggered.
Of the trio, agreeing a new contract for Salah is currently the biggest priority. Considering his remarkable record of 125 goals for the club in 203 matches, that’s hardly surprising.
Despite the speculation about his future generated by the interviews the Egypt international granted to Spanish media last season, senior Liverpool sources insist his conduct around the club has been impeccable. No one doubts his commitment to the cause.
However, there are no absolute guarantees at this stage that an agreement with Salah’s representatives will be reached. The pandemic has had an impact on the kind of pay rises being offered. It has also reduced Salah’s options, even if he was privately considering the merits of embarking on a new challenge.
With Mane the next attacker in line for fresh terms after Salah, it’s Firmino who looks to be the most vulnerable. The Brazilian’s place came under serious threat from the dynamic Jota last season. Firmino, who turns 30 in October, finished the campaign strongly with three goals in the final four matches as Liverpool secured Champions League qualification but an overall return of just nine goals in all competitions was disappointing. His influence appears to be waning.
If Firmino doesn’t get a new deal, then there’s a call to be made over whether you look to sell next summer and get a fee for him.
FSG has shown with Emre Can and now Wijnaldum it’s at ease with losing players for nothing if it makes sense to keep them for their contract’s final year. It would rather do that than extend a contract and risk ending up paying millions of pounds in wages further down the line to someone who is no longer of much value to the team.
When it comes to buying replacements, Liverpool’s model won’t change — the signing of Thiago from Bayern Munich at the age of 29 last summer was an exception to the rule.
The profile will be players aged 24 or under who are hungry and have something to prove. They will seek value and potential rather than purchasing a finished article already operating at the peak of his powers. In effect, they will be looking to replicate what they did when signing Firmino, Mane and Salah.
For a loyal manager who has such a close bond with his players, it won’t be easy for Klopp to cut ties with those who have been so integral to the glory he has masterminded. He had wanted Wijnaldum to stay and found saying goodbye to the Dutch midfielder difficult.
But that’s where Edwards comes in.
It’s his job to take the emotion and the sentiment out of the decision-making process. He has to be ruthless as Liverpool evolve.
There will also be the transition period to oversee if, as expected, Klopp takes a career break when his current contract ends in the summer of 2024. Talk about huge boots to fill.
Before then, there’s much to sort out.
This isn’t the end of the cycle for the core of Liverpool’s title-winning team, but the end isn’t far away.
The need to gradually refresh and regenerate is clear.
Resources need to be channelled accordingly, but most fans would be happier if that process included keeping their captain on board.
