Jordan Henderson has made his feelings clear over his return to the England national team ahead of this month's international break. The former Liverpool captain will return to the squad for the first time since being dropped by former manager Gareth Southgate before the Euro 2024.
His last appearance in a Three Lions shirt came in November 2023, during the European qualifiers. Henderson has 80 caps at senior level and was selected ahead of the likes of Conor Gallagher, Morgan Gibbs-White and Angel Gomes.
"Jordan is a similar call-up for the same reasons as Dan Burn," said Tuchel. "They carry these values on their shoulders and they carry their teams. It’s absolutely reliable what they bring in terms of energy and this is where the focus is also for us to build a strong team and a cohesive team. Jordan is a big piece in that puzzle for us.
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"He is captain of Ajax. He is available and has played a lot of matches. What he brings to every team is leadership, character, personality, energy. He makes sure that everyone lives by standards and with this characteristic he embodies everything that we try to build."
Taking to Instagram to react to the news, Henderson shared England's squad list on his stories and added an England flag and heart emojis.
Tuchel also hinted that those players who were called up this month, are contenders to be in the squad for the World Cup in 2026. "We try to build a team for our fans and a team that they are proud of and can identify with," the German added.
"Jordan embodies everything that we want from this team. Everyone who is with us on this journey and in this first camp is a contender for the World Cup. Every player is part of this first step. At the same time, it’s only the first step so the nomination is not the nomination for America.
"We had tough decisions to take and we didn’t make it easy for ourselves. We waited very long until Champions League games were over until we took our last decisions. It is important to be in the first camp and if you are in the first camp, you are in the first step of the journey."
England will play Albania and Latvia in the World Cup qualifiers at Wembley. The first match will be played on Friday, March 21 while the game against Latvia will take place the following Monday.
