Amid concerns over Liverpool handing their captain a new contract that takes him beyond his 35th birthday, Jordan Henderson insists there is “a lot more to come.”
Henderson is the latest first-team regular to extend his stay at Anfield this summer, following Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Alisson, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson.
Mohamed Salah is expected to be the next to put pen to paper, with Liverpool’s focus throughout the transfer window being retention, rather than recruitment.
It sees the core of Jurgen Klopp‘s squad tied down for the long term, but certainly in Henderson’s case there are question marks over the decision to hand him a four-year contract.
Already 30, Henderson will be 35 by the time this deal expires, but speaking to LFCTV, he rejected the suggestion that he could struggle to perform at that age.
“For me, it’s just about keeping going. I still feel young, I still feel fresh,” he said.
“I feel as though I’m probably in my prime at this moment in time, in terms of how I feel physically and experience mixed in.
“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, well, maybe this takes him to 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 did add, however, that there is a possibility that a move away from Anfield could come sooner if either the player or the club are no longer happy with his role.
“I need to make sure that I’m playing well and improving, I’m contributing to the team, and then if the club wants me to go on with them on their journey, of course it makes sense for us to do that,” he explained.
“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.”
The No. 14 pointed to the longevity of his vice-captain, James Milner, as the example he is hoping to follow as a mature player within an elite squad.
“I think people forget that, even though he might be the age he’s at now, he could continue to play another two, three, four years really, in terms of his physical shape,” Henderson insisted.
“So it’s down to him and what he wants to do, but every time that he played last season – I know he’s recovering from a little injury – and even in pre-season he was at the top level.
“You don’t really see a drop-off and hopefully he can continue on that path for the next few years, definitely.”
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