What impact does Henderson have on the teams he joins?

One of the biggest talking points this summer has been Jordan Henderson.

The midfielder was a somewhat surprising selection in Thomas Tuchel's England squad and, off the back of that, has made the switch across London to join Chelsea.

New Blues manager Xabi Alonso will be hoping that Henderson will have an instant impact and help lift a squad that finished tenth last year.

But what effect has Henderson had with his previous clubs, and can we learn how things might go with Chelsea?

Championship loan

Henderson's first proper taste of senior football came in the Championship when he joined Coventry on loan from Sunderland in January 2009 as the Sky Blues aimed for promotion.

The then 18-year-old impressed, scoring once in 13 appearances, but his campaign was cut short in April with a broken foot.

In their remaining seven games without Henderson, Coventry lost four and drew three as they plummeted down the table, ending the season in 17th place. 

Manager Chris Coleman was keen to bring him back to the club for the next season, but the new Sunderland boss Steve Bruce decided he wanted Henderson to remain with the Black Cats.

Return to Sunderland

Whilst Henderson was flourishing at Coventry, Sunderland found themselves in a relegation dogfight in the Premier League.

Sunderland ended the season in 16th place, only two points clear of rivals Newcastle, who went down in 18th place.

Manager Steve Bruce was keen to get Henderson involved, and he became a mainstay over the next two seasons at the club.

Henderson won Sunderland's young player of the year in both 2009-10 and 2010-11 as Sunderland finished in 13th and 10th place respectively.

In the latter of those seasons, Henderson also played alongside Danny Welbeck on loan from Manchester United and the pair will be reuniting once again after both joining Chelsea this summer.

Merseyside success

After successful back-to-back seasons with Sunderland, the boyhood Mackem left the North-East to join Liverpool in the summer of 2011.

In his debut season, Henderson started as Liverpool beat Cardiff on penalties in the League Cup final, Liverpool's first major trophy since winning the FA Cup in 2006.

Henderson was a regular for the Reds, but their league performance was consistently poor, except in 2013-14, when they finished runners-up.

In the summer of 2015, Henderson was named Liverpool captain after Steven Gerrard departed. Soon after Jürgen Klopp joined, marking the beginning of one of Liverpool's greatest eras.

Henderson led Liverpool to three Champions League finals, winning one in 2019 against Spurs and captaining Liverpool to their first league title in 30 years in 2020.

The England international's impact at Liverpool may not have been immediate, but he certainly left his mark on the club.

(C)Getty Images

Travels abroad

Henderson left Liverpool in the summer of 2023 to play under his former skipper Steven Gerrard at Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq. 

The decision to move to Saudi Arabia was a controversial one and after just 17 league appearances he swiftly returned to Europe after just six months.

Henderson spent the second half of 2023-24 with Ajax as they finished 5th with 56 points, their joint-lowest points total for 30 years.

For Henderson's only full season with the Amsterdam club, he was appointed captain and Ajax were cruising on their way to reclaim the league title, but one win in their last five meant they missed out on the trophy to PSV by a single point.

However, his dalliance outside of England remains the only blip in a career that has consistently seen him influence a team whenever he's joined them. 

Return to England 

His latest act was on his return to the Premier League last summer. 

Henderson arrived at Brentford to a depleted side: manager Thomas Frank joined Spurs and top goalscorers Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa headed to Manchester United and Newcastle respectively.

With manager Keith Andrews lacking experience, many expected the Bees to struggle, but it was quite the opposite.

Henderson was a regular as Brentford finished 9th, their joint-best Premier League finish as they narrowly missed out on European qualification. Adding more credence yet to the impact Henderson can offer. 

Getty Images

 

The facts are: Jordan Henderson has been a success at most teams he has played for.

He elevated Sunderland to midtable, won everything at Liverpool, nearly captained Ajax to the title and almost helped Brentford qualify for Europe for the first time.

Henderson has a track record of making teams better, and with Xabi Alonso inheriting a young and inexperienced squad, it makes perfect sense he turned to the former Liverpool captain to help lead them into a new era.

 

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