Jordan Henderson has ended months of contract negotiations with Liverpool by signing a new five-year deal at Anfield worth a basic £100,000 a week.
The Liverpool vice-captain was one of several players this season to hit an impasse over a new contract with the club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, but has now agreed an incentivised deal that ties him to Anfield until 2020.
Martin Skrtel, whose current contract expires in 2016, and Jordon Ibe are expected to follow suit before the end of the season as Liverpool look to end the uncertainty surrounding several key players. Talks on a new contract for Raheem Sterling, however, have been postponed until the summer at the 20-year-old’s request.
Henderson was given permission to join Fulham when Brendan Rodgers arrived at Anfield in 2012 but has since developed into an important asset for the Liverpool manager, to the extent that the 24-year-old is the leading candidate to succeed Steven Gerrard as club captain when the 34-year-old leaves for LA Galaxy.
The midfielder, signed for £20m from Sunderland in 2011, was approaching the final 12 months of his previous contract having rejected an £80,000-a-week offer from Liverpool and had been linked with rival Premier League clubs as a result. But Henderson insists he gave no thought to leaving Anfield.
“I never really thought it wouldn’t get done,” said the England international. “For me it was just a case of leaving it to the club and my agent to sort it out. I always said that I wanted to stay at Liverpool and there was no other club that I would go to. I wanted to commit my future and it was just a matter of time for my agent and the club to sort it out.
“Thankfully today it’s done. I’m over the moon that it’s all done just so I can concentrate on the future and what needs to be done now.”