Strictly as a business decision, Jeff Hendrick’s move to Newcastle United in 2020 to play under the club’s erstwhile manager Steve Bruce is beyond reproach.
Inking a four-year deal with a Premier League giant is as lucrative as it gets for an Irish footballer not named Keane.
The numbers these past two seasons tell another story. What became a tale of underperformance or lack of exposure, depending on perspective, threatened to dominate his peak playing years. Yet any doubt about Hendrick’s ability to replicate the slick midfielder, who played every minute of Ireland’s Euro 2016 odyssey, have been dispelled by Stephen Kenny’s blind faith in the Dubliner over the past 18 months.
“I wouldn’t claim any great credit for it,” Kenny protests, “he himself commits to an extraordinary fitness and lifestyle. He hires his own separate people outside the club and does relentless stuff. He commits to that himself. That’s nothing to do with me.”
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Whatever kept Hendrick going in recent times, besides an eye-watering seven-figure salary, has to be partially credited to Kenny’s refusal to look beyond the 30-year-old.
And there is a simple reason why.
“Maybe it was underutilised for a long time but he has a really expansive range of passing and his pass in that last game against Belgium when Caoimhín Kelleher threw it to Jeff and he took two or three strides and played the pass to Jason Knight who could have went in and finished but it got blocked, it was just extraordinary.”
Hendrick returns to Newcastle this preseason, after a loan stint at QPR, with little to no hope of ever actually playing under Eddie Howe at the Saudi-backed club.
“Yeah, I’d say it’s a possibility [that he has played his last game for Newcastle], things can change, football is crazy like that, but it’s a strong possibility, we’ll have to wait and see.”
Hendrick spoke to Howe a few weeks ago and, without any clarity, it seems obvious to the player that another loan move is imminent.
“Well, I have two years left at Newcastle. For me, I’m ready to go back on July 1st and start training and if I need to go and get games, I will do that. It’s something I want to do, I always want to play games and I’ll wait and see.
“I don’t know if it will be a fresh start. Newcastle have done really well and brought some good players in and I can admit their midfield is very strong with the additions in January. I’m not the club, I’m not doing the buying or whatever, but I’d imagine they will strengthen the whole squad again in the summer. For me it’s about being realistic and being prepared that I might need to go somewhere else for games.”
In the meantime, the conductor of Ireland’s play will keep the ball moving.
