Ajax midfielder Jordan Henderson has hit out at “lies” over his mooted transfer from the Dutch club to AS Monaco after his team closed the gap on PSV Eindhoven at the top of the Eredivisie with a win over fierce rivals Feyenoord.
Reports emerged in France and the Netherlands last week that the former Liverpool player had asked to leave Ajax to join the Ligue 1 side — something the England international strenuously denied in a post-match interview with ESPN.
“Everyone knows the club’s financial situation. Money has to be created and that can be done by letting big earners leave,” Henderson said of the situation.
“I am one of the big earners. It’s often about my salary in the media. The situation was that we had to decide whether it was worth pivoting or keeping my salary in this case.
“Those were difficult conversations. I said what I thought, but we jointly came to the conclusion that I should stay. I am happy with that. I will give everything for the club and the team.
“Of course I am happy to stay. My plan was to stay here at least until the end of the season and then re-evaluate. A lot of things were taken out of context in the press. That was disrespectful, they were lies.
“Untruths were told about me as a person. I tried to focus, but it feels painful. People may criticise me because of my game, but when it gets personal … I am a human being with family, parents, a wife and children. If they read things in the press that are not true, that is going too far. I don’t know what their sources are, but it is not true.”
Henderson moved to the Dutch capital after an unsuccessful six-month stint in the Saudi Pro League with Al Ettifaq.
Henderson has been Ajax’s captain for much of this season, though ahead of their Europa League contest on Thursday against Galatasaray he handed the armband to teammate Remko Pasveer.
In a separate post-match news conference on Sunday, he became embroiled in a heated argument with a number of reporters that lasted almost 10 minutes.
“I think 99% of people, if they knew the inside information, wouldn’t have played the game [on Thursday],” he said. “But yet, people in this room have questioned my professionalism and me as a person — I think it’s bang out of order.
“I’ve got a family, wife, kids, mum, dad, who read nonsense in the media from you guys.”
The journalists involved defended their reporting despite Henderson’s ire.
Information from ESPN Netherlands contributed to this report.
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