'Jordan Henderson chased the money but paid the price with hefty Saudi tax bill'
Jordan Henderson chased the money but, in the end, he paid the price.
The cost was a reputation damaged even if his bank balance was boosted. But can it be repaired? This is football after all. Not many transfer decisions have gone worse than the former Liverpool captain’s switch to Saudi side Al-Ettifaq.
Henderson, 33, will now return to Europe hoping to rebuild bridges after the embarrassment of the last six or so months. It won’t be easy. Nor should it be as he sets about a new life in Amsterdam with Ajax just half a year on from going to Saudi with the promise to help grow football there and bring change.
Henderson, who enjoyed a glittering career at Anfield, prided himself on being the voice for the people. He stood up for the NHS when needed during Covid and he was outspoken in support of the LGTBQ+ community when called upon. Yet he knew all that good would disappear once he took the money from a club in a country with an horrific human rights record. He still did it when he didn’t need to.
The former Sunderland midfielder may have been heading for a bit-part role in Jurgen Klopp’s side but there was no shame in that. Now we must assume he regrets it as he’s prepared to take a whopping pay cut from his £350,000-a-week wages and potentially face a substantial tax bill for failing to see out even 12 months of his three-year deal.
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Henderson had barely put down roots but he and his family have not settled in the Middle East. That’s even with juggling their time between the more open Bahrain and the conservative Saudi Arabia.
The heat shouldn’t have come as a surprise on and off the pitch. But it would have really set in when just half an hour or so into his debut for the Saudi Pro League side, Henderson was bent over gasping for air.
Henderson (R) has struggled to settle in the Middle East (Getty Images)This was for a player who never stopped running as he helped lead Liverpool to a Premier League title, European Cup, FA Cup and League Cup. Life off the pitch was different, too. Everything is late in the Middle East owing to the searing heat in the day and the Muslim way of life revolving around prayers which tend to go on into the evening.
That meant night-time training sessions and late-night meals after days inside air-conditioned rooms. It wasn’t easy to adjust. Henderson went there claiming he could grow the sport in the Middle East but he was never going to be a key building block in whatever the Saudi government are hoping to build.
What will now be Henderson’s final game for Al Ettifaq had an attendance of just 5,808 in a stadium which holds 35,000. He even played in front of just 610 fans away at Al-Fayha in one of three games on the road which had three-figure attendances.
The England midfielder was a fine player for Liverpool and a great captain. He deservedly won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 2020 when the Reds ended their 30-year wait for a title.
But he’s not a box-office attraction like Cristiano Ronaldo or Neymar. As for changing society, it would be wrong to say that Saudi is not developing. Having visited there in 2019 and again late last year, it is clear there are moves in the right direction. Even if it is at a snail-like slow pace.
But a defensive midfielder is not going to drive those changes any faster. Henderson is not moving back to Europe to ensure he’s in Gareth Southgate’s England side for this summer’s Euros in Germany. That was never in doubt if you look at how the Three Lions boss continued to pick him for the September and October internationals.
Those games did bring a smattering of boos from the England faithful who were not impressed by his dalliance with the petro-dollars. Yet many have done much worse than Henderson and have been hailed as heroes again. But while Amsterdam is much closer to home for the Sunderland boy than Saudi, the road to redemption is still very long for the Mackem.
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