Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has insisted that there is no "bad blood" between him and Jordan Henderson following the midfielder's controversial departure from Anfield.
Henderson left 12 years of Merseyside memories behind to join the Al Ettifaq revolution under Steven Gerrard, although his move inevitably attracted swathes of criticism.
Having been a devoted supporter of the LGBTQ+ Community during his time with Liverpool, Henderson was lambasted for moving to a country where homosexuality is punishable by death.
The 33-year-old recently spoke at length to The Athletic about his decision, claiming that he left for playing reasons rather than money and denied that he was earning £700,000 a week in the Middle East.
Henderson also admitted that he no longer felt "wanted" at Liverpool, who brought in four new midfielders during the summer window in the shape of Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch.
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As a result, Klopp could not promise Henderson the game time he was after to continue at Liverpool, but the Reds boss has affirmed that the England international would have continued at Anfield if he was guaranteed to be the "main man" in midfield.
However, such a scenario was not possible, and Klopp believes that an exit was the best solution for both parties, telling a press conference on Friday: "Hendo said the truth, that's how it was.
"We had our talks, I told Hendo I want him to stay, but we had to talk about the possibility of not playing regularly. I cannot have a talk before the season and tell a player he will play 50 games, it all depends on performance.
"If Hendo performed he would have maybe had 50 games absolutely fine, but in this specific situation with the relationship we had, I thought it was important to speak about everything.
"Hendo is a fantastic player, love him forever, super guy, but he's not great when he's not playing. He was my captain for seven and a half, nearly eight years, and I had to talk about that now because I don't want to wake up one morning and we lock horns with each other because he thought he would start and I tell him he will not.
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"Obviously in Hendo's ear and mind, that came out as 'he doesn't want me here'. I understand 100% but we clarified that, what he said is if I would have told him 'Hendo, stay here, you will be the main man in midfield' Hendo would have stayed. That's 100% the truth.
"But I couldn't say that. As much as I wanted him to stay, I couldn't say that, and that's why it was better that Hendo moved on. There is not a bit of bad blood, he is the captain of the most successful team this club saw in the Premier League era.
"He's a sensational player, only the best and when he comes here he gets a real farewell. There's nothing to misunderstand from that point of view."
Henderson left Liverpool with a record of 33 goals and 61 assists from 492 appearances, and he has already set up two goals in four matches for Al Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League.
Liverpool return to action away to Wolverhampton Wanderers in Saturday's lunchtime Premier League kickoff, and Klopp also provided an injury update on the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Darwin Nunez ahead of the trip to Molineux.
Ben Knapton
