Gerrard and Henderson's enormous Al-Ettifaq salaries to be funded by new program
Jordan Henderson is set to earn an eye-watering £700,000-a-week if the former ally of LGBTQ+ rights makes a remarkable move to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ettifaq.
But the fact the England midfielder is not joining one of the four clubs recently taken over by the Gulf state’s Public Investment Fund, who are also Newcastle United’s major owners, has raised eyebrows around the source of finance and questions over the figures behind a club that last won silverware in the 1980s.
Al-Ettifaq list a number of independent businessmen as directors with the chair, Khaled Abdullah Al-Dabel, sitting on the board of the Budget rent-a-car firm and a number of others linked to medium-sized real estate firms.
And there is nothing in their most recent financial report to suggest that they are capable of suddenly forking out extraordinary sums of money for players nearing the end of their careers.
Or, indeed, a manager in Steven Gerrard on a £15.2m salary that is on par with Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp and bettered only by Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid (£29.5m) and Pep Guardiola’s pay packet at Manchester City (£19.m)
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So who is funding Al-Ettifaq’s remarkable investment as part of the Saudi Pro League’s wider play to become one of the sport’s biggest domestic competitions?
Well, the state essentially.
The drive to enhance the Saudi League is coming from the snappily-named Player Acquisition Center of Excellence (PACE) programme, which is now being headed up by former Chelsea recruitment chief Michael Emenalo.
Steven Gerrard with the Ettifaq chairman at his unveiling on July 3 (Al Ettifaq Football Club/AFP via)PACE’s big picture idea is that by bringing in international stars they will develop homegrown youngsters to the extent that their league eventually becomes self-sufficient, not needing to stump up hitherto unseen salaries for veteran stars, and the national team, fresh from shocking world champions Argentina in Qatar last year, can become capable of making deep runs in the big tournaments.
It appears, then, that the money to pay the globally-recognised names will come from a central authority via the SPL.
Last month state media reported that SPL clubs will “actively work” with Emenalo “through a step-by-step process for foreign player acquisition that includes squad mapping, player care, budget allocations, negotiations, and transactions.”
The SPL’s interim chief executive, Saad al-Lazeez, said that the core emphasis will be on providing a platform for local youngsters to thrive and that the PACE initiatives “has more to it than simply bringing world-class players and talent here or spending big amounts of money on those players.”
Similar was said about the failed Chinese Super League plan in the previous decade but the SPL insist their ambition is long-term, although Emenalo has said the plan is “so audacious in its ambition I can understand that it creates some doubt in some people’s mind.”
There is some logic to the idea that the locals must learn from figures who have thrived at the top level and backers will admit that they are not going to be attracting the likes of Karim Benzema or Cristiano Ronaldo without such whopping financial incentives.
Michael Emenalo has recently become the Saudi Pro League's director of football (Getty Images)At the same time, it was hard to be convinced by Emenalo’s assertion that the conveyor belt of arrivals is not only in it for the money.
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“If a lot of them are making this decision, it’s not necessarily because of the economic side of the opportunity,” he said earlier this week. “It is also because they recognise that this is going to be something that defines their legacy. They have an opportunity to contribute to something special, and that’s what every footballer is looking for.
“They’re looking for a great competition and an opportunity to do something exceptional and special. And I think the league offers them that. This is why there is a spectacular interest from all around the world and from players to join our league.”
For Gerrard Al-Ettifaq may also represent an opportunity to succeed as a manager following his failure at Aston Villa. Being convinced of motivational factors for Henderson beyond the financial, on the other hand, is not so easy.
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