Jordan Henderson backs Jurgen Klopp to transform Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain into Liverpool's new central midfielder

After moving to Anfield for £40m, Henderson says Oxlade-Chamberlain has all the right attributes to join him in the middle of the pitch

Jordan Henderson believes that his new Liverpool teammate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain can be a success in central midfield - but also feels that manager Jürgen Klopp will help develop his game further.

The two were on international duty on Wednesday when Oxlade-Chamberlain made his £40m move from Arsenal, opting to go to Anfield over Chelsea because he wants to play in the centre, and will finally have their first training session together at the club after England’s World Cup qualifier with Slovakia at Wembley on Monday. Henderson feels that Klopp can have a positive effect on the 24-year-old. Oxlade-Chamberlain played in the wing in the 4-0 win over Malta, but Henderson felt even that showed why he will be able to move into midfield.

“I think he can do both very well,” Henderson said. “He’s a fantastic player, he can adapt each position, gives you something different on the wing. He’s very direct and powerful and in the midfield he’s clever enough to get on the ball and get on the half-turn so, for me, he can play in either position.”

Henderson says Klopp will help with that.

“Well, I think, you’d have seen him on the sidelines, he’s very passionate, what you see is a fantastic manager and I think he will help Alex a lot, he will help him develop as a player and hopefully you will see even more good things from him.”

“I’m delighted he’s signed for Liverpool, but, at the end of the day, we are with England and our focus has got to be on the game here and after Monday then I’m sure we can start focusing on Man City and getting him into Melwood for his first session and stuff like that.”

Henderson again captained England in the match against Malta and, although he has now done so a few times, agrees with manager Gareth Southgate’s plan to rotate the armband.

“Obviously Harry was captain in the last few games, Joe has been captain before, Gary’s been captain before and so I think there’s still a few people who can do the job but the gaffer doesn’t want to give that responsibility to one person, he wants to divide it and I think it’s a good idea.

“I’m sure anyone would want to captain their country and I’m no different. We’ve got a few leaders in the team but also young people coming through who can lead and the gaffer’s idea to bring them through is good.

Henderson believes Oxlade-Chamberlain can be a success in central midfield (Getty)

“Like I say, we’ve had conversations about changing it. Obviously Harry [Kane] was captain in the last squad, Gary [Cahill] and Joe [Hart] have done it before, I’ve done it before and it’s about sharing that responsibility as a group and as a team and I think that’s important going forward.”

Henderson also said he could understand England supporters booing the team when it was just 0-0 at half-time of the match against Malta.

“You can understand it, they travel a long way and they want to see us scoring goals, creating a lot of chances. But sometimes in football it doesn’t always work out like that. You’ve got to be patient, you’ve got to be professional and I felt we did that and did the job in the end.

“That’s totally their choice. At the end of the day, I felt in the second half we did a good job, scored some good goals, kept a clean sheet so there’s still some positives to take from the game. Of course we have to thank the fans no matter what because they travelled a long way to see us and support us. So hopefully thanks to them and safe travels to them.”