Jordan Henderson has revealed that he hopes he can play a key role for England during the upcoming Euro 2024 tournament in Germany.
The midfielder has been a regular for England under Gareth Southgate, being the manager’s eighth most capped player during his stewardship with 53 appearances, including in the most recent batch of Euro 2024 qualifiers in November.
The 33-year-old’s international future was thrown in the air, however, by his lucrative transfer to the Saudi Pro League to link up with Steven Gerrard at Al Ettifaq, with Southgate admitting that he’d be making no commitments to watch the midfielder in the Middle East.
Following a short, and thoroughly disappointing, spell at the Saudi outfit, Henderson mutually agreed to terminate his contract and joined Eredivisie side Ajax in January, with his international future understood to have contributed to his decision.
Since then, Southgate has been keen to watch Henderson in the Netherlands, recently attending the midfielder’s debut outing with Ajax – a 1-1 draw with rivals PSV Eindhoven.
Speaking about his international aspirations to the press, Henderson thanked Southgate for watching his game and insisted that he is keen to be part of the manager’s plans moving forward, despite many fans calling for a new generation of players this summer.
“It was really nice for Gareth to come over and watch the game, it was my debut against a good side,” he said. “It was good for him to come and watch to see that he’s keeping an eye on me.
“It’s always a privilege for me to play for my country and I want to do that as long as possible but ultimately I’ve got to focus on my job here and if I’m doing that well and performing well then that gives me the best possible opportunity to get in the England squad.
“I have just got to continue to play well here and stay fit and hopefully I will get the opportunity to do that, because playing for my country is a huge thing and always has been.”
