Just 175 days after having signed a succulent contract with
Al-Ettifaq
of
Saudi
Arabia
and having earned the rejection of a few English supporters, midfielder
Jordan
Henderson
left the Middle East with sadness, without glory and perhaps without tickets.
The former
Liverpool
captain has already joined Dutch
side Ajax
, with whom he was linked until June 2026.
“I regret to say that I will be leaving Al Ettifaq with immediate effect.
It was not an easy decision, but I think it is the best for me and my family,” the player wrote on Thursday on his Twitter account.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank the club and the fans for all the support during my stay.
I really felt the love from day one.
I will continue to watch and hope for your success.
Good luck in the future,” he added, without giving further details about the reasons for his decision.
With clockwork precision,
just two minutes after the
33-year-old footballer's publication, Ajax announced that Henderson had signed a contract with the club for two and a half years and even immediately offered the possibility of buying the shirt with the number 6 and the surname of the English national team footballer.
“We wanted a midfielder with experience and leadership skills.
Partly due to injuries in the team, we were looking for someone who could play right away.
Jordan Henderson is that type of player.
His arrival represents a huge improvement for our team.
Both on and off the field, a footballer of this caliber is important for our many young players,” justified the incorporation of John van't Schip, coach of the Amsterdam team, which is fifth in the Dutch league.
In Saudi Arabia they tried to tone down this
rudeness
.
Al-Ettifaq's leadership, through a statement published on its website, explained that the separation had been a consequence of "a mutual agreement" and marked "a friendly conclusion of the relationship with the footballer."
“We are always respectful of our players.
“The club and Jordan believe that this quick decision, without further delay or distractions, has been made for the general good of the club and him,” said the president of the institution, Samer Al Misehal.
Jordan Henderson, smiling alongside coach John van't Schip, during his presentation as Ajax's reinforcement this Friday in Amsterdam.
Photo: Peter Dejong / AP.
After 12 years at Liverpool, in which he had played 492 games, scored 33 goals and won eight titles (seven as captain, including the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020), the midfielder had joined the cast Saudi Arabia on July 27, which had generated unrest in the United Kingdom and accusations of manifest
hypocrisy
towards the player.
The main questions were due to his decision to choose as a destination a country in which homosexuality is punishable with corporal punishment (even the death penalty is contemplated), especially
because Henderson had shown his support for the LGTBIQ+ community
by wearing bracelets with the colors of the rainbow, as part of a Stonewall group campaign, and actively and proudly participating in campaigns promoted by the Premier League.
“When you see something that is clearly wrong and makes another human being feel left out, you should stand shoulder to shoulder with them.
You also have the responsibility to better educate yourself around the challenges they experience.
The idea that anyone would feel excluded from playing or attending a football match simply for being and identifying as who they are blows my mind.
“I do not feel worthy of being classified as an ally on this issue, but I am incredibly proud to be considered as such,” said the player in November 2021, in one of his participations in the Rainbow Laces campaign.
Jordan Henderson participated in several campaigns to make visible the problems faced by the LGTBIQ+ group.
When he decided to sign with Al-Ettifaq a contract for three seasons that, according to the BBC, brought him income of
3.6 million dollars per month
, the midfielder alleged that his departure to Saudi Arabia (a historical ally of the United States in the Middle East) It was to give visibility to the LGTBIQ+ group.
“I really think that playing in Saudi is a positive thing,” he said in September in an interview with The Athletic.
Many supporters
did not believe his argument
and whistled and insulted him in each of the matches he played with the English team since then.
“I don't understand why they boo him.
He played 80 times for England.
His role both on and off the field was very important and he helped many young people on the team.
He was an example for many,” Three Lions
coach
Gareth Southgate defended him in October.
In a league that has become a pole of attraction for figures such as the Portuguese
Cristiano
Ronaldo
, the Brazilian
Neymar
or the Senegalese
Sadio
Mané
, the hiring of Henderson was a boost for Al-Ettifaq.
But the team led by
Steven
Gerrard
(the midfielder's former Liverpool teammate) was far from achieving the results it aspired to and today is eighth in the league, 28 points behind the leader Al-Hilal.
Jordan Henderson played only 19 games in the Al Ettifaq jersey.
Photo: Hamad I Mohammed / Reuters.
Beyond the performance of his team, which he represented in only 19 games, the reasons for Henderson's untimely departure would have been other.
According to the English press,
neither he nor his family adapted to daily life in the city of Dammam
.
Although the player was in charge of leaking that information, he never made public his discomfort.
In any case, the vice president and interim CEO of the Saudi Professional League,
Saad
Allazeez
, laid it bare.
“This is part of football.
Sometimes, despite the best efforts, people don't adjust, they don't settle, and that can impact their task and lead to frustration.
“Jordan is a good boy and it is a shame that things did not work out, but he would be the first to admit that they gave him all the support and respect,” the leader assessed.
Jordan Henderson has made 81 appearances for the English national team.
Photo: Lee Smith / Reuters.
Beyond his very noble intentions of making visible the problems that affect the LGTBIQ+ community, the move to Saudi Arabia had as a counterpart a very juicy financial compensation for Henderson.
However, her premature defection
from him and a premeditated tax avoidance maneuver
could leave her without receiving even a dollar of his million-dollar contract.
As reported by The Telegraph, the Sunderland-born player had agreed to
defer collecting his salary
to avoid paying taxes in the United Kingdom.
British law establishes that if a person spends more than 90 days a year in the country, he must pay taxes there.
Henderson, who planned to exceed that time limit with visits to family and friends, and concentrations with the national team, decided to delay receiving his salary.
That movement and his flight just six months after traveling to Saudi Arabia would allow Al-Ettifaq not to pay him what was originally agreed.