Jordan Henderson’s unravelling Saudi hell – brawls, boos and ‘huge mistake’
Six months was all it took for Jordan Henderson’s Saudi Arabia stint to come back crashing down.
The former Liverpool captain is poised to hitch Ajax after agreeing to terminate his contract with Al-Ettifaq on the first alternative. The 33-year-old confirmed in July 2023 that he’d be becoming a member of Steven Gerrard‘s undertaking on a reported £350,000 every week in Dammam, however Henderson is so keen to depart the membership that he’ll now settle for a substantial pay reduce to maneuver to Amsterdam.
And it is going to convey an finish to an unremarkable six-month spell within the Saudi Pro League, which noticed the Sunderland native fail to spark any form of revolution. That doesn’t suggest it handed with out incident, nonetheless, as Daily Star Sport chronicles the autumn of a once-hallowed determine.
READ MORE: Jordan Henderson quitting £350k Saudi deal for Ajax as followers mock ‘clown’ after LGBTQ fury
READ MORE: Graeme Souness has blunt reply why Jordan Henderson desires to give up Saudi Arabia
There have been early indicators that Henderson’s sojourn to Saudi was doomed, beginning with the widespread scrutiny he confronted from British followers for accepting the swap within the first place. Once a bastion for LGBTQ+ rights and blissful to bear the rainbow flag now and again, he was dubbed a hypocrite for transferring to a rustic with such a hardline stance towards homosexuality.
Al-Ettifaq even went to nice lengths to make sure any photographs of Henderson sporting the rainbow captain’s armband at Liverpool have been edited over of their announcement video. It wasn’t the final time the Saudi membership can be criticised for a Henderson-related package difficulty as they have been pilloried for placing “EFC” on the midfielder’s shirt, signifying Liverpool’s bitter rivals Everton.
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(Image: Getty Images)
Henderson returned to England in September when he began the Euro 2024 qualifier towards Ukraine, and Euros-winner Jill Scott took intention at her countryman. Speaking on Channel 4’s protection of the midfielder’s comeback fixture, she mentioned: “I am a Jordan Henderson fan, but now I know I wouldn’t be welcome if I wanted to watch him play football.”
The following month, Henderson was booed at Wembley as he skippered the Three Lions to a 1-0 win over Australia. He responded by saying it is “not nice being booed by your own fans” however accepted they’re entitled to their opinions, including: “It won’t change who I am and what I do for this team and for my country.”
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The followers aren’t the one ones who turned their again on the once-celebrated star, with Liverpool additionally eradicating reference of the participant on Merseyside. The Reds scraped an image of their former skipper from the membership’s coaching floor simply a few months after his departure.
It was removed from rosy in Saudi Arabia, both, the place Henderson has grown accustomed to taking part in in entrance of crowds of fewer than 1,000 individuals. He was additionally lucky to escape a pink card when a brawl broke out towards Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Al-Nassr crew, shouldering one opponent to the ground earlier than a melee ensued.
(Image: Getty Images)
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Al-Ettifaq ended 2023 with a nine-match winless run, having racked up a single victory of their final 13 video games and sitting eighth within the Saudi Pro League. Of course, that is not solely on Henderson, nevertheless it’s hardly the form of success one might need envisioned after agreeing a financial institution balance-boosting transfer to the opposite aspect of the world.
The Sun reported earlier in January that Henderson had informed his former team-mates he’d made a “huge mistake” by transferring to Saudi Arabia. A return to Europe will not absolve him within the minds of many a supporter again on dwelling soil, however it might convey the participant himself some piece as he seeks to attract a line underneath probably the most chaotic interval of his profession so far.
