![](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-1499131949.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Joe Cole feels Jordan Henderson\u2019s England future is in \u2018jeopardy\u2019 after he put manager Gareth Southgate in a \u2018difficult position\u2019.<\/p>\n
Henderson left Liverpool this summer to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq, a move which attracted mass criticism from the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n
Homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia and can even be punishable by death with LGBTQ+ groups and their allies\u00a0angered by Henderson\u2019s summer switch\u00a0given the\u00a0England\u00a0international\u2019s previous vocal support for the gay community.<\/p>\n
Cole has suggested that Henderson\u2019s England future is in doubt as the standard of the Saudi Pro League is so far behind Europe\u2019s elite leagues, despite Brazil star Neymar recently claiming that the Saudi league is \u2018better\u2019 than France\u2019s Ligue 1.<\/p>\n
\u2018From a footballing perspective, I can understand why it puts Gareth in a difficult position,\u2019 Cole told Channel 4.<\/p>\n
\u2018When you\u2019re competing with the players Henderson is competing with \u2013 Rice, Bellingham, Ward-Prowse, Phillips \u2013 they are all playing in the Champions League [and Europa League].<\/p>\n
\u2018Is he going to be as sharp as he was? You have to remember the margins that England went out with against France at the last World Cup.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/metro-parent\/img\/fallback.png\")
<\/p>\n
\u2018You have to be so sharp, every player on the pitch. Henderson will know he\u2019s put his England future in jeopardy.\u2019<\/p>\n
Cole, quizzed about the \u2018moral side\u2019 of Henderson\u2019s switch to Saudi Arabia, added that the 33-year-old \u2018slipped up\u2019 when he claimed in an interview that he did not move there for the money.<\/p>\n
\u2018On the moral side, I agree with Gareth in the sense that footballers and managers get held to account on what\u2019s right and wrong,\u2019 Cole said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Look, Jordan is a good lad at heart. He\u2019s represented Liverpool and England very well. It\u2019s difficult to talk about.\u2019<\/p>\n