Twelve years, 492 appearances and a place secured in Anfield’s pantheon of greats.

Jordan Henderson’s name sits alongside Emlyn Hughes, Phil Thompson, Graeme Souness and Steven Gerrard as one of Liverpool’s iconic European Cup-winning captains.

The Sunderland-born midfielder will forever be remembered as the man with the trademark shuffle who lifted the Premier League, marking the end of that 30-year title drought.

Only 14 players in the 131-year history of Liverpool Football Club have represented it more often. Just four (Donald McKinlay, Hughes, Ron Yeats and Gerrard) have worn the armband on more occasions than Henderson’s tally of 268.

Such glory and service. It shouldn’t have ended like this.

The timing of his exit and his destination of choice leave a sour taste. After having his head turned by the riches on offer from Al Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia, he’s relinquished the emotional Anfield goodbye he would have been guaranteed.

Accusations of hypocrisy and betrayal will be difficult to shake off given his vow to “stand shoulder to shoulder” with the LGBTQI+ community. It’s ironic that someone who made a habit of silencing critics throughout his Liverpool career departs having left a stick for people to beat him with.

GO DEEPER

Jordan Henderson had the trust of my community. Then he broke it

To assess what Liverpool are losing, you need to separate Henderson the player from Henderson the captain and you need to focus on the present rather than the past.

The reality is that at the age of 33, Henderson wouldn’t have commanded a starting spot in Jurgen Klopp’s strongest line-up following the signings of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.

His role had evolved, with Klopp managing his game time. Having started 76 per cent of Premier League matches in 2021-22, that figure dropped