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‘It has changed.’ Jordan Henderson reveals dressing room change as Liverpool might have repeated transfer blunder
Jordan Henderson has ended any speculation surrounding his future by putting pen to paper on a new long-term contract on Tuesday.
The Reds had a quiet deadline day with regards to incomings, but the Liverpool skipper has prolonged his engagement to the club until 2025.
Henderson celebrated 10 years at Anfield this summer, but a lot has changed in the dressing room in recent years, according to the 31-year-old.
“I’d definitely say it has changed a bit because over that period of time a lot of people have grown – as players, of course, but as people, as leaders within the dressing room,” Henderson told liverpoolfc.com.
“So I do hear a lot more leadership, I would say, before games maybe in and around the dressing room, people taking ownership of certain things.”
“You always look to improve and grow as a person, which I do see a lot within our dressing room. That’s important.”
And convenient, too. Since 2018, Liverpool have had a leadership group inside the first-team squad, with skipper Henderson joined by vice-captain James Milner, defender Virgil van Dijk and Gini Wijnaldum.
With Wijnaldum having this summer left, the need for extra leaders has become more articulated with the Reds looking to wrest back the Premier League title they lost to Manchester City last season.
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Henderson will remain at the heart of the battle for probably the next four years having ended speculation over his future by penning a new long-term contract on Tuesday.
Not that the 31-year-old is taking anything for granted.
“I’ve always said I would like to play here as long as possible,” he says. “But to do that I need to make sure I’m playing well, I’m improving, I’m contributing to the team.
“But the minute one of those things isn’t happening then obviously, the size of this football club and the players here, then things have got to change.
“I still feel young, I still feel fresh, I feel as though I’m in probably my prime at this moment in time in terms of how I feel physically and experience mixed in.
“So I still feel as though I’ve got a lot to give and a lot more to come. I know people may look at it and go, ‘Maybe this takes him to he’s 34, 35.’ But I want to be playing football for as long as I can, so who knows what age I’ll go to.”
Henderson doesn’t have to look far for inspiration in that respect, with team-mate Milner continuing to defy conventional wisdom and remain an integral part of the Liverpool squad while approaching his 37th year.
“Millie is an example to everyone in the dressing room and a big example to the younger generation as well,” says Henderson, talking to liverpoolfc.com.
“He’s a little bit of a throwback to the old school and I quite like that from Millie. He’s very dedicated and professional, as we all know. He’s great to have around the training ground.
“But he’s a top player as well and I think people forget that, even though he might be the age he’s at now, he could continue to play for another two, three, four years really in terms of his physical shape.”
Henderson among a host of Liverpool stars to pen a long-term deal this summer that includes Alisson Becker, Fabinho, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson, Nat Phillips, Harvey Elliott, Caoimhin Kelleher and Adrian.
The club will now focus their attention on agreeing a new deal with Mohamed Salah, with talks ongoing with the Egyptian and his agents.
And Henderson adds: “Every time I see someone get a new deal, it makes me feel happy for some reason, other than they’re doing well and they’ve deserved everything they’ve got really in terms of the lads that have been renewed.
“I’m delighted for all of them and hopefully there’s more to come in the near future.
“Every year is the same, every year is the biggest challenge, the biggest season ahead. I feel as hungry as ever. I feel as hungry as I did when I first walked in 10 years ago, to prove to people that I deserve to be at this football club.”
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