Steven Gerrard has drawn a comparison between Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum.
The Al-Ettifaq manager took over the Saudi Pro League side in the summer and he recruited Henderson from Liverpool, as well as another former Liverpool midfielder, Wijnaldum.
Speaking to the press, Gerrard explained why he had looked towards the experienced Englishman.
“I think when you’re the coach, the manager, you want players going into games that can be an extended version of the staff. People, who can really help on-pitch coaching; where the team needs to be in terms of distances, to make on-field decisions,” he said.
“Myself and Jordan [Henderson] we have that trust. We played together and he’s a fantastic player still, a fantastic human being. For us, to execute that signing was key and very important and I think a lot of the other signings we made came on the back of Jordan agreeing to come here. I think he wanted to still play, I think that was the key.
"He was at Liverpool at the time, he’s had a fantastic career, he’s achieved everything at that club, he’s been a fantastic servant to Liverpool Football Club, but I think in the previous months, maybe him not being a regular starter in the team, when you get to that age, I’ve been there myself under Brendan Rodgers when, you’re the captain, you play all the games, then all of a sudden you’re on the bench or you’re not getting as many minutes as you’d like, and that’s when you analyse and think about the different challenges, and when we knew it was a possibility, I wanted to be aggressive and wanted that to be my first signing, because for me it was a no-brainer.
"Still a fantastic player, he’s a leader, an on-pitch coach. His standards on how he lives his daily life on and off the pitch is good for our young players to see, watch and learn. Jordan understands the size of the project, that it’s not a quick fix. He wants to be part of the journey and building it with us, but he was a very important signing at a key time.
Turning to Wijnaldum, who signed from Paris Saint-Germain following an unsuccessful loan spell at Roma, he explained why he brought him in, and pointed to some similar qualities to Henderson.
“Gini [Wijnaldum] recently hasn’t played as much football as he would have liked,” he noted. “He had an injury where he broke his leg, and his last couple of experiences haven’t brought him football happiness, so he was looking to play regular football, he wanted to smile again, to feel an important part of the team and we could give him that platform.
“He’s got many similarities to Jordan in terms of leadership, professionalism. He’s a winner, a different type to Jordan in terms of style, but they complement each other very well and I’ve seen that firsthand being a Liverpool fan for many years. We’re looking for that combination, we’re looking for that leadership and we’re looking for them to play those key roles in terms of presence and contribution on the pitch.”