Ajax insist they 'don't want to lose' Sunderland-linked Jordan Henderson

If Sunderland were hoping to lure Jordan Henderson back to Wearside in January, it appears they will have their work cut out persuading Ajax to part with him.

Jordan Henderson - Reported Sunderland target / IMAGO / DeFodi

Ajax technical director Alex Kroes has appeared to rule out the possibility of Sunderland signing Jordan Henderson in January.

Henderson has been linked with what would be an emotional return to his boyhood club to try to help them back into the Premier League.

Reports in the UK have claimed Sunderland have made initial contact and are currently working on a deal, while the player himself is said to be keen on the move.

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However, Henderson poured cold water on those reports earlier this month, and Ajax have now followed suit by claiming they don’t want to lose the midfielder.

“I am extremely satisfied with Jordan as captain, both on and off the pitch,” Kroes told Algemeen Dagblad. “So, we don’t want to lose him.

“We assume he will help us continue the further development we are currently going through as a club and a team.”

Henderson broke through at Sunderland before a big money move to Liverpool, who he captained to multiple trophies including the Premier League and Champions League.

However, his star fell dramatically when he opted to move to Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2023. That move appeared to cost him his place in the England set-up and decimated his reputation given he had previously been a strong public supporter of the LGBTQ community.

He abandoned that Saudi phase of his career in January and headed back to Europe, signing for Ajax, although he has been in and out of the side at the Amsterdam Arena.

Despite that, he has said he is happy at the Eredivisie giants and insisted he is intent on seeing out his contract there.

“I am thinking about it (his future), but I haven’t decided yet. I am focusing on the last years of my career first,” he said.

“When my contract here expires, I will be 36 years old. Then I will see how I am physically and what Ajax wants. I may end my career here. It could very well be.”