As Jordan Henderson turns his back on his game-changing move to Saudi Arabia after just six months, it is only right to ask whether it was worth the damage it caused.
By Jack Lusby, ThisIsAnfield.com
In football, the understanding of optics has always been hugely important when it comes to transfers. More often than not, a new manager’s ‘in-tray’ includes reshaping a squad with their own signings; at times, clubs appear to bring in new faces simply to appease baying supporters. Former Manchester United executive Richard Arnold was once reported to have gleefully told shareholders that the recent loan signing of Odion Ighalo – the former Watford striker who arrived on a short-term deal from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua – was “the top trend worldwide on Twitter.”
Those optics can work in the opposite way, with players and even managers seeing certain clubs as off-limits due to their previous ties to fierce rivals; a boyhood Sunderland player, for example, would be warded off a move to Newcastle.
Optics have played a significant part in the elongated saga surrounding former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, who has now terminated a controversial stay with Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq after just six months, to join Ajax on a permanent deal.
Though his 12-year stay on Merseyside was not without its setbacks, and there remained doubters among the club’s support to the very end, Henderson was widely revered at Liverpool having led the club through its most successful era in the living memory of many. His trademark shuffle saw him lift the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup, the League Cup, the Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup during a storied spell under Jürgen Klopp.
But it was also widely acknowledged that his time as a regular starter was drawing to a close. Klopp told his captain as much during a meeting after a dismal 2022-23 campaign, with his game time to be reduced as new midfielders were brought in. Henderson was slated for the James Milner role, it would seem, but he only trained alongside new £60 million stud Dominik Szoboszlai once before deciding to head to Saudi Arabia.
That is, the country whose many human rights issues have attracted widespread scrutiny and criticism amid the revamp of its footballing setup, with the fact that homosexuality is illegal in the gulf state a major sticking point when it came to Henderson’s decision to join Al-Ettifaq, given he had long been a vocal advocate of the LGBTQ+ community in his role as Liverpool captain.
The optics were all wrong, and all but seemingly Henderson could see that. Joining Al-Ettifaq on a three-year deal worth a reported £300,000-a-week, he insisted in an interview with The Athletic, was not motivated by the tax-free riches on offer, but the opportunity to “achieve something special and build a club and build the league” under the tutelage of a former team-mate in Steven Gerrard. Henderson insisted that he “didn’t know anything” about his new club’s marketing team noticeably greying out the rainbow armband he often wore at Liverpool in a series of images upon his unveiling. “If that disrespects their religion, then that’s not right either,” was his conclusion.
In short, Henderson was viewed as sacrificing his morals, and the image built up over more than a decade with Liverpool and England, to follow the swathes of high-profile players in chasing the eye-watering contracts on offer in Saudi Arabia. Though many players – such as Ruben Neves, who left Wolves at 26 to join Al Hilal – have admitted it was the driving factor, his own verdict was that appeal of “building the league” came up “before money was even mentioned.”
Except it hasn’t worked out that way. If we’re talking optics, it would be remiss to not note that, for all the hype around the Saudi Pro League throughout a busy-spending summer, few will be aware that their games are even being broadcast in the UK. The rights were not taken up by Sky Sports, TNT Sport or Amazon, and certainly not terrestrial broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV or Channel 4. Instead, games are available to watch live on streaming service DAZN. The even fewer who will tune in to watch the likes of Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad and Al-Ettifaq may be staggered by the standard of football and in-person attendances at many fixtures in the Saudi top flight.
Henderson, if reports were to be believed, certainly was, with the fact he has at times played in front of crowds of fewer than 1,000 – with Al-Ettifaq’s 35,000-seater stadium boasting an average attendance of just 7,854 this season – cited as one of the reasons for his exit. So, too, was a struggle to adjust to the climate, though some would argue that this should have come into any research conducted when deciding to move continents.
Importantly, when it comes to the optics around Henderson agreeing to terminate his three-year contract at Al-Ettifaq after just six months, are claims that his desire to remain an important part of the England squad at the Euros, and a commitment to his young family, who have not settled in the Middle East.
Joining Ajax has been depicted in some quarters as a financial sacrifice from Henderson, more than anything – and it should be noted that the Premier League, or even a return to Sunderland in the Championship, is effectively off-limits until 2025, as returning to work in the UK would require paying back millions earned tax-free in Saudi Arabia. But there is a disappointment, from those who were long attached to the captain who lifted more different trophies for Liverpool than any other, that the move to Amsterdam comes after such a damaging side-quest.
If, at 33, Henderson had accepted Klopp’s reshuffle of the hierarchy and moved directly to Ajax, the optics would almost certainly have been a bold move to a respected European league for a player whose entire career had been spent in England. He would have been granted a rapturous farewell at Anfield, as a hero who helped bring silverware back to Liverpool.
Now, it is simply a marriage of convenience, his initial 18-month contract in Amsterdam appearing designed to allow those tax-free earnings to be time-barred before the next move can be calculated. Even for Ajax themselves – who won just one of their first eight games in the Eredivisie this season and now sit 23 points behind leaders PSV Eindhoven in fifth – the signing appears more of a PR move than one that will truly reinvigorate their campaign.
Of course, it should be maintained that Henderson owes us nothing. He is, effectively, just another human being who accepted a high-paid job under questionable circumstances, before deciding it wasn’t really for him and changing his mind.
But as he plays out at least a year-and-a-half of the few he has left at the top level of football, he will surely regret how things played out.
(Images from IMAGO)
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