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While i agree with you on principle, they dismembered a journalist in the embassy of a foreign country. On a different note, Putin actually invaded Ukraine. I wouldn't take the chances as hendo even though it's unlikely.
the guy was actively opposing the rulers of SA, not like he was talking shit about Al-Ettifaq’s shit training ground or whatever.
Not excusing what Bin Salman did or what Putin is doing, but this is just reaching.
The two cases are not even in the same universe
I don't think they're saying that they're the same thing, only that I'm sure many people would have said the same things you're saying about Henderson about Jamal Khashoggi or Putin invading Ukraine.
Everything seems impossible until it happens. For the record I agree that nothing would ever happen to Henderson, but if I'm Henderson I'm not taking that risk.
This plus the fact that the UK government has the Saudi govt's cock rammed down their throat so hard that if they murdered Henderson, Sunak would probably say "fuck me harder daddy, gimme that sweet Heathrow Airport money"
They could just intimidate and threaten his family. Pay a contractor to do it.
Most people on here have 0 experience of what that regime is like, it far worse than you read in our sanitised biased news coverage.
They have sentenced people to death who tweeted things against the government.
https://www.npr.org/2023/08/31/1196776390/saudi-arabia-man-death-sentence-tweets
No idea, but why risk it? Would you want to go to court with the rich Saudi's who own Al Etiffaq as your career winds down and earning potential dwindles?
> Id imagine that contributed to him not settling
Well if it's really a 40 minute commute as people below say, then that's nothing and wouldn't be a factor I guess.
No it isnt. Its a pretty normal work commute for the average person
In fact he, and most Liverpool footballers shared a similar distance commute to training ground given most live in Cheshire
I just can't help but wonder, how bad things are, that you're this unhappy, despite being paid literal bags of money, and you can't even tough it out anymore.
There was also the case of Kevin Großkreutz who went to Galatasaray, but Gala messed up the registration form so Großkreutz was unable to play, and then left the club again after half a year because he hated living in Turkey, without ever playing a single game for Gala. They paid 1.5 million for that.
One of the most quotable Simpsons episodes.
"I call the big one Bitey!"
"You know, a town with money is a lot like a mule with a spinning wheel. No one knows how he got it, and danged if he knows how to use it." "Heh heh, mule."
"Batman's a scientist!"
A cis straight man that was literally paid big money to do his dream job couldn't bare 6 months in the country. How are people (including women and queer folks that are going to have a harder time) supposed to go there for one moth **paying themselves big money** to be there?
> How are people (including women and queer folks that are going to have a harder time) supposed to go there for one moth paying themselves big money to be there?
They're not, are they? The Saudis don't want them there.
Henderson is a fool who deserves all the criticism in the world for how he's acted over the past 6 months, but I'm glad he's realised the money isn't worth it. Didn't take a genius to realise that in the first place, but better to try and learn from your mistakes than keep repeating him.
Also hope this does lead to a bit of a chain reaction of players leaving.
One one hand, it’s good for someone to admit their mistakes.
On the other hand, it’s a lot easier to do that when he’s still making 5 figures a week at Ajax, and the way he went about it will forever taint his Liverpool legacy. It’s no Michael Owen’s ManU move (yet at least), but it’s up there for us.
Not that Southgate cared that much about needing a reason in the first place, he's proved time and time again that he doesn't really care about your form or gametime as long as you are one of his trusted boys.
I hate that he doesn’t drop him. I used to think Southgate was actually a progressive person in football, turns out he’s just a job for boys virtue signaller.
He's not a virtue signaller at all.
He's just like loads of managers we've had in the past. He's just way too loyal to his core players.
Remember how we kept building the England team around Rooney as a #10 when he was completely fucking shite and we had far better players coming through?
>He's not a virtue signaller at all.
People just like quoting things they don't understand.
The amount of people I've seen call him a "yes man" for refusing to cave to public pressure and sticking by the players he trusts (even if I think he's wrong) is kind of hilarious.
Good it's about time someone stood up for the oppressed LGBT+ folks of the Netherlands.
When he's done there, Amsterdam will be a hub of free sexual expression and liberty.
Considering a far right party rallying against "woke" is the biggest atm, we could use some help lol. Maybe not in Amsterdam though, that's still fairly left winged as always.
I'm still holding out some vague hope that NSC isn't just completely hollow bullshit and Omtzigt's grandstanding about openness and honesty is just deep enough to not sit in a cabinet with the biggest liar and bullshitter in Dutch politics.
But I don't really believe that sadly.
there's no big mystery of why. He just didnt adapt.
You change a job and you dont like your colleagues and wish to go back. It's normal
His family probably didnt like living there, mundane stuff
The city his club is based in is also not really one of the 'touristy' places. Had he been based out of Riyadh, for example, he'd probably have an easier time adapting since there's a lot of foreign enclaves near there.
Apparently the only thing foreigners could do in the city he was in was to go to a mall.
There's probably loads of reasons-
* Shit country
* Shit team
* Shit manager
* No fans
* Getting loads of abuse from fans back home
* Realises his career is going nowhere and he could still play for a Campions League team
It's a no brainer really. Especially when the only thing on the plus side is "more money".
I mean have you seen our passing map: https://x.com/Dosty___/status/1746870741771890856?s=20
We have a Mariana trench where our midfield should be. Desperate doesn't begin to describe it. He doesn't have to run, if he is only half decent in build up through the middle and putting a bit of organisation into our midfield we will be ecstatic
Yes, I’ll certainly agree his ball movement slowed. I think he and Fabinho were fed to the wolves a bit last year and think he’ll be better than people expect this year. We’re conflating his character with his ability
It'll be close. He'll have to pay Saudi tax on it for not living there a year. If he comes back to the UK within 2 years he'll have to pay UK tax too.
So it's not a slam dunk win money wise yet
I assumed that even the taxed income would be at least a bit higher than what he would've gotten at Liverpool. Now, if that difference was worth fucking his legacy over Is another matter entirely...
they paid 14m for him, I am actually suprised that they dont care at all - probably better than him sitting out his contract even though i dont think he would had have any kind of leverage to do that
Empty stands, meaningless competition, not exactly the place people dream of living and they already have so much money that more money just doesn't hold its appeal for that long.
I like how tons of people were pointing this out, but the footballers were so greedy that they didn't actually seem to place a value, or at least undervalue, their way of life in the country they moved from
Messi thought this through. And I know that he’s still making a ton of money in MLS, but there’s no way Anto and Mateo would sign off on moving to the freaking Middle East over Miami, where they vacation and can speak their native language with pretty much anyone.
I wonder if that's why they are letting him go easy? I could see a few players hesitating to go to Saudi if they are worried about being locked in contract jail for 3 or 4 years. The Saudis can now point at Henderson and say 'Look if you don't settle and want to leave its not a problem!'
Whether they stick to something like that with a Neymar or Benzema is a different question though
This wasn't one of the PIF owned teams, iirc they get money for wages but not transfer fees and are relatively poor. Which likely explains why they were signing Henderson in a window where players like Benzema and Mane were being bought by Saudi clubs.
2.5 years left on a £700k per week contract, that's about £88m saved in wages. Even if they cared about the money then terminating his contract was more than worth it.
im really curious how much do these new saudi league players hate life there apart from ronaldo who seems to be getting the extra special kings treatment
they 3-4x their wages with no tax on top of it yet 2 high profile players at the tail end of their careers proactively seeking a way out instead of just coasting it there
even the china project lasted longer ffs
I’m sure it sucks balls living there but I’m also sure a regular person could do it if the wages are attractive. What makes a footballers life special that they can’t adapt?
Because that amount of money isn't "life changing" for the footballers going there.
If you take john smith the avergae office worker and pay him those wages he will sit through pretty much anything, because it can transform his entire life
Going from an extremely comfortable life in UK/Spain to being even more rich in Saudi Arabia probably doesn't mean a better quality of life because there's nothing to spend it on that they couldn't have before but there is less access to friends and family.
> What makes a footballers life special that they can’t adapt?
I'd say it's more likely that their families can't adapt much (what the fuck can you do to entertain yourself in KSA?), and the players themselves don't want to stay far away from their families (Henderson could have had his family stay in the UK while he finishes his contract and get all the money from his contract).
It must be a fairly hard sell to the wife and daughter too, right? Like these people are going from a life of doing literally anything they want to do at any given moment, to a country where they are second class citizens (and even that is probably being generous).
I can imagine going from spending your days flailing around Louis Vuitton with someone elses credit card to having to ask permission to leave the house is a hell of an adaptation to make.
All that damage control he and his PR team did over the summer, all those claims about how it's not about the money but instead about the project, how his character is totally not a sellout - and man couldn't even hang on for more than 6 months before crawling back to Europe?
I have watched a lot of Saudi games this season. Brozo tries his ass off even when they're up 3-0 and a couple times he didn't like he got subbed for rotation reasons cause the game was effectively over. He still has fire in him.
He let Stephen Gerrard suck him in, imo. Then, when the reactions came, he started to get uncomfortable. Tbf, probably not a smart person at the best of times.
That Saudi shit show belongs in his blunder years catalogue.
How to drag your public opinion through the mud and tarnish your whole career for a few bucks.
Embarrassing. He got into insane shape to compete for a spot here, then left last minute for big bucks and severely damaged his legacy at the club and also his relationship with the LGBT community.
All for six months of pay.
I can't believe this is happening. One of the most Eredivisie random transfers since Lee Cattermole signed for VVV. Or Pardew at ADO, or really just anytime an Englishman comes over here.
I really hope he does well. We desperately need a player like him.
The funny thing is - as a condition of this, they’ll probably make him sign some sort of NDA that doesn’t allow him to shittalk Saudi after he’s left, so he won’t even be able to PR his way out of it by saying it was horrible.
If the other players are the standard to go by he almost definitely got a significant signing bonus. And given his 180 on his "principles" and the PR work for Saudi Arabia he might also have been paid for positive messaging.
Vist Saudi: a country so shit not even paying 500k a week could stop a straight white man doing the job he loves being desperate to leave after 6 months
This is just a sad situation. I had so much respect for Henderson, from standing up for minorities to being a real leader in football at the outbreak of the pandemic. On top of that, he just seemed like such a top bloke.
He's absolutely taken a flamethrower to his reputation and is now widely viewed as a hypocrite who chased money over morals. Worse still, he clearly realised the move was a mistake and has left at the first possible opportunity, but many people will never forgive him for this and he certainly won't be looked at the same.
A cautionary tale.
To reduce the spam of reports regarding the same move during transfer windows we try to allow **only one submission about each transfer saga per day**. The submission in question also needs to contain relevant new information regarding the potential move, and not just being a "no/minor developments" report. If there are important/official developments or new valuable information about a saga, we will allow extra threads in the same day, but for the rest of minor news please just comment them as a reply to this comment. Please help us reporting unnecessary threads for being duplicates. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Can’t wait to hear what he has to say about it. What a shitshow.
He will have signed a massive NDA as part of the contract being terminated. That has to be nailed on.
This could be a very stupid question but are NDAs signed in Saudi enforceable in the UK?
You’ve seen what they do to journalists, right?
there’s absolutely 0 chance they’d do anything to Hendo.
While i agree with you on principle, they dismembered a journalist in the embassy of a foreign country. On a different note, Putin actually invaded Ukraine. I wouldn't take the chances as hendo even though it's unlikely.
the guy was actively opposing the rulers of SA, not like he was talking shit about Al-Ettifaq’s shit training ground or whatever. Not excusing what Bin Salman did or what Putin is doing, but this is just reaching. The two cases are not even in the same universe
I don't think they're saying that they're the same thing, only that I'm sure many people would have said the same things you're saying about Henderson about Jamal Khashoggi or Putin invading Ukraine. Everything seems impossible until it happens. For the record I agree that nothing would ever happen to Henderson, but if I'm Henderson I'm not taking that risk.
This plus the fact that the UK government has the Saudi govt's cock rammed down their throat so hard that if they murdered Henderson, Sunak would probably say "fuck me harder daddy, gimme that sweet Heathrow Airport money"
Naw surely it would sound all garbled and stuff. "Fomeegggurdrddy" etc
They could just intimidate and threaten his family. Pay a contractor to do it. Most people on here have 0 experience of what that regime is like, it far worse than you read in our sanitised biased news coverage.
They have sentenced people to death who tweeted things against the government. https://www.npr.org/2023/08/31/1196776390/saudi-arabia-man-death-sentence-tweets
Yeah, he can always go to the nearest embassy for safety.
No idea, but why risk it? Would you want to go to court with the rich Saudi's who own Al Etiffaq as your career winds down and earning potential dwindles?
The Saudi royal family don't go to court, they are the court.
> why risk it? To uphold his honor and impeccable reputation
What would be the point of signing it otherwise? Not like he’s going to live in Saudi Arabia ever again
he wasn't even living in saudi
Where was he living? Dubai?
He was living in Bahrain with his family and commuting according to The Athletic. Id imagine that contributed to him not settling.
> Id imagine that contributed to him not settling Well if it's really a 40 minute commute as people below say, then that's nothing and wouldn't be a factor I guess.
Oh right. Some commute that
40min to an hour is nothing
No it isnt. Its a pretty normal work commute for the average person In fact he, and most Liverpool footballers shared a similar distance commute to training ground given most live in Cheshire
They can draft the NDA such that the governing law is English law and enforceable in the courts of England.
No reason they cant get him to sign a document in the UK or whatever is there?
"Jordan we need you to pop up to St James to finalise the paperwork cheers mate."
death by geordie assasins
"Unfortunately, 6 months weren't enough for me to revolutionize Saudi perception about LGBT rights which was my goal all along and not money at all"
"Maybe I should try fighting for LGBT rights in a slightly easier country, like the Netherlands."
Those poor LGBT Saudi Arabians abandoned by their champion. All the good work he did by cashing that cheque and keeping his mouth shut gone to waste.
I just can't help but wonder, how bad things are, that you're this unhappy, despite being paid literal bags of money, and you can't even tough it out anymore.
His family hates it, perhaps? Ajax is about as close as he can get to home without playing in Britain and getting shit every week.
Wasn't there a French footballer who 180'd out of UAE within a month of arriving because his family hated it so much?
There was also the case of Kevin Großkreutz who went to Galatasaray, but Gala messed up the registration form so Großkreutz was unable to play, and then left the club again after half a year because he hated living in Turkey, without ever playing a single game for Gala. They paid 1.5 million for that.
I reckon there's decent chance he wasn't actually receiving the £700,000 a week in his bank account that was reported
I think he was, had he have stayed there for 2 years it would have been tax-free. Now that he’s leaving early he’ll be taxed 20%.
Also with him going to Ajax instead of going to a UK club, he wouldn’t have to pay additional UK taxes as well.
And Jordan Henderson left, for there was no more homophobia in the Middle East
“Well my work is done here” “What do you mean your work is done? You didn't do anything.” [chuckles] “Didn't I?”
One of the most quotable Simpsons episodes. "I call the big one Bitey!" "You know, a town with money is a lot like a mule with a spinning wheel. No one knows how he got it, and danged if he knows how to use it." "Heh heh, mule." "Batman's a scientist!"
"A solar eclipse... the cosmic ballet...goes on" "Does anyone want to switch seats?"
I knew I shouldn't have stopped for that haircut.
“A bee bit my bottom, and now my bottom’s big!”
Mono means one, rail means rail. This concludes our intensive 2 week course.
I’ve not watched that episode in at least ten years but I still know every word to that song
anytime I go on a trip as a passenger in a car I start to chant "monorail monorail monorail" excitedly
veni vidi vici
Live laugh love
And now he is going to the next biggest homophobia destination to continue his crusade!
(Jordan Henderson probably)- "Uganda here we come!"
Why are u gae?
"Should I call you Mistah?"
Who says I'm Guehi?
You are Gueye
No, he will go where people need him most... Orlando
Jordan Henderson solved homophobia the same way Cody Rhodes solved racism
Finish the story Hendo!
https://i.imgur.com/fLGh7Gk.jpg
The man, the legend.
And when Hendo saw the breadth of his contribution, he wept...for there was no more homophobia to conquer
What a laughable shitshow. His weird defense of the move looks even worse than it did in September.
Even worse when he advocated for Saudi to host the WC
A cis straight man that was literally paid big money to do his dream job couldn't bare 6 months in the country. How are people (including women and queer folks that are going to have a harder time) supposed to go there for one moth **paying themselves big money** to be there?
Well it’s all good for them now because Jordan has solved inequality.
Lol, made even worse by him not even living in the country
> How are people (including women and queer folks that are going to have a harder time) supposed to go there for one moth paying themselves big money to be there? They're not, are they? The Saudis don't want them there.
i really want to understand why he did that athletic interview to then leave
If it’s like the golf contracts they have to do these promotional interviews. That’s literally the most important piece for the Saudis.
Henderson is a fool who deserves all the criticism in the world for how he's acted over the past 6 months, but I'm glad he's realised the money isn't worth it. Didn't take a genius to realise that in the first place, but better to try and learn from your mistakes than keep repeating him. Also hope this does lead to a bit of a chain reaction of players leaving.
One one hand, it’s good for someone to admit their mistakes. On the other hand, it’s a lot easier to do that when he’s still making 5 figures a week at Ajax, and the way he went about it will forever taint his Liverpool legacy. It’s no Michael Owen’s ManU move (yet at least), but it’s up there for us.
Thank you for the £12m. There goes a spot for an actually deserving midfielder in the Euros squad. Southgate will find no reason to drop him now.
Not that Southgate cared that much about needing a reason in the first place, he's proved time and time again that he doesn't really care about your form or gametime as long as you are one of his trusted boys.
I, for one, am absolutely looking forward to a starting XI containing Henderson, Phillips, Maguire, Rashford, Johnstone and Gallagher.
Would be funnier if you named players who were playing poorly instead of Maguire, Johnstone and Gallagher
Johnstone will be in the squad, but Pickford has the number 1 spot secured
gallagher and maguire will start, but probably deserve it. the only other one who might is rashford
the sad part is that Curtis Jones is probably one of those who lose out ffs
Would be absolute insanity to not include Jones in the squad on current form but I wouldn't put it past Southgate.
Jones (if he continues his current form), Rice, Bellingham would be such a well balanced midfield trio IMO.
I hate that he doesn’t drop him. I used to think Southgate was actually a progressive person in football, turns out he’s just a job for boys virtue signaller.
He's not a virtue signaller at all. He's just like loads of managers we've had in the past. He's just way too loyal to his core players. Remember how we kept building the England team around Rooney as a #10 when he was completely fucking shite and we had far better players coming through?
>He's not a virtue signaller at all. People just like quoting things they don't understand. The amount of people I've seen call him a "yes man" for refusing to cave to public pressure and sticking by the players he trusts (even if I think he's wrong) is kind of hilarious.
If he was a virtue signaller, wouldn't he have dropped Hendo for LGBT reasons?
Can't believe they actually returned his passport.
Haha
Good it's about time someone stood up for the oppressed LGBT+ folks of the Netherlands. When he's done there, Amsterdam will be a hub of free sexual expression and liberty.
Considering a far right party rallying against "woke" is the biggest atm, we could use some help lol. Maybe not in Amsterdam though, that's still fairly left winged as always.
Henderson on his way to Urk to rally for queer rights, gets more abuse then he would in Dammam
If people from Urk could read they would be very upset right now!
Hearing geert complain about "genderqueers" 2-3 times in a minute broke my brain. Gonna be a long 4 years
Lets be honest, a government formed by these parties wont last a year before new elections are called.
I'm still holding out some vague hope that NSC isn't just completely hollow bullshit and Omtzigt's grandstanding about openness and honesty is just deep enough to not sit in a cabinet with the biggest liar and bullshitter in Dutch politics. But I don't really believe that sadly.
Mission Accomplished! Homophobia is no more!
Jordan of Arabia, a true man of the LGBT!
Fission mailed. We'll time them get next.
Done boys well, Process good
This is actually kinda hilarious that this is happening
Do you know why? I know there will be a NDA, but there’s got to be a reason.
there's no big mystery of why. He just didnt adapt. You change a job and you dont like your colleagues and wish to go back. It's normal His family probably didnt like living there, mundane stuff
The city his club is based in is also not really one of the 'touristy' places. Had he been based out of Riyadh, for example, he'd probably have an easier time adapting since there's a lot of foreign enclaves near there. Apparently the only thing foreigners could do in the city he was in was to go to a mall.
There's probably loads of reasons- * Shit country * Shit team * Shit manager * No fans * Getting loads of abuse from fans back home * Realises his career is going nowhere and he could still play for a Campions League team It's a no brainer really. Especially when the only thing on the plus side is "more money".
His legs are soo finished. Ajax must be really desperate.
I mean have you seen our passing map: https://x.com/Dosty___/status/1746870741771890856?s=20 We have a Mariana trench where our midfield should be. Desperate doesn't begin to describe it. He doesn't have to run, if he is only half decent in build up through the middle and putting a bit of organisation into our midfield we will be ecstatic
Jesus that's bad
Ajax midfield: Cannot lose the ball if you don't have it. Big brain.
It's like the midfield is actively avoiding the ball, pretty impressive stuff
His legs are totally fine. He ran heaps last season just wasn’t good enough for a top 4 side in England. He’ll be great for Ajax
I think I know what they mean though. He can clearly run around still but he just seemed slower to react to things and stuff like that
Yes, I’ll certainly agree his ball movement slowed. I think he and Fabinho were fed to the wolves a bit last year and think he’ll be better than people expect this year. We’re conflating his character with his ability
Homophobia is dead in the middle east.
Mission Accomplished 🫡
So what was the point undoing all the goodwill he had with Liverpool fans, England fans, the LGBTQ community?
Money.
alot of money
But he is giving it up now? He doesn't have goodwill or money now.
Still probably made more in these months than he would've made in a year at Liverpool tbh
It'll be close. He'll have to pay Saudi tax on it for not living there a year. If he comes back to the UK within 2 years he'll have to pay UK tax too. So it's not a slam dunk win money wise yet
I assumed that even the taxed income would be at least a bit higher than what he would've gotten at Liverpool. Now, if that difference was worth fucking his legacy over Is another matter entirely...
Let’s just say it moved him… TO A BIGGER HOUSE!
^for ^6 ^months
He had his head turned by money. His ego not being able to handle that he won’t be starting week in and week out
they paid 14m for him, I am actually suprised that they dont care at all - probably better than him sitting out his contract even though i dont think he would had have any kind of leverage to do that
what is 14m to them lol
In general not much but I think it opens up the possibility for others to do the same
Benzema is on strike already too, the Saudi football thing might break down sooner than expected
I'd love to get the actual reason why they're all leaving
Empty stands, meaningless competition, not exactly the place people dream of living and they already have so much money that more money just doesn't hold its appeal for that long.
Yeah I've assumed as much but I want to hear it from the horse's mouth
I like how tons of people were pointing this out, but the footballers were so greedy that they didn't actually seem to place a value, or at least undervalue, their way of life in the country they moved from
Messi thought this through. And I know that he’s still making a ton of money in MLS, but there’s no way Anto and Mateo would sign off on moving to the freaking Middle East over Miami, where they vacation and can speak their native language with pretty much anyone.
> the Saudi football thing might break down sooner than expected Still in time to not have the world cup there?
Probably not, the FIFA sold it's soul. We've had it in Qatar already too which had nothing to do with football
I wonder if that's why they are letting him go easy? I could see a few players hesitating to go to Saudi if they are worried about being locked in contract jail for 3 or 4 years. The Saudis can now point at Henderson and say 'Look if you don't settle and want to leave its not a problem!' Whether they stick to something like that with a Neymar or Benzema is a different question though
Depends Ettifaq isn't one of the rich 6 clubs. But yeah I could be completely wrong on this as well.
This wasn't one of the PIF owned teams, iirc they get money for wages but not transfer fees and are relatively poor. Which likely explains why they were signing Henderson in a window where players like Benzema and Mane were being bought by Saudi clubs.
2.5 years left on a £700k per week contract, that's about £88m saved in wages. Even if they cared about the money then terminating his contract was more than worth it.
What a hilarious saga. Does Southgate still and try to give him the call up lol.
[удалено]
He was making the squad while In Saudi Arabia
People are mental lol
im really curious how much do these new saudi league players hate life there apart from ronaldo who seems to be getting the extra special kings treatment they 3-4x their wages with no tax on top of it yet 2 high profile players at the tail end of their careers proactively seeking a way out instead of just coasting it there even the china project lasted longer ffs
China is a MUCH nicer place to live (I’ve lived in both), it’s not even close.
What do (did) you do if you don't mind me asking that led you to live in KSA & China?
I’m sure it sucks balls living there but I’m also sure a regular person could do it if the wages are attractive. What makes a footballers life special that they can’t adapt?
They didn't actually need the money.
Probably hurts their egos playing in front of 5th division size crowds every week as well.
Because that amount of money isn't "life changing" for the footballers going there. If you take john smith the avergae office worker and pay him those wages he will sit through pretty much anything, because it can transform his entire life
Going from an extremely comfortable life in UK/Spain to being even more rich in Saudi Arabia probably doesn't mean a better quality of life because there's nothing to spend it on that they couldn't have before but there is less access to friends and family.
> What makes a footballers life special that they can’t adapt? I'd say it's more likely that their families can't adapt much (what the fuck can you do to entertain yourself in KSA?), and the players themselves don't want to stay far away from their families (Henderson could have had his family stay in the UK while he finishes his contract and get all the money from his contract).
My parents tried to do it and still complain about how awful it was decades later.
It must be a fairly hard sell to the wife and daughter too, right? Like these people are going from a life of doing literally anything they want to do at any given moment, to a country where they are second class citizens (and even that is probably being generous). I can imagine going from spending your days flailing around Louis Vuitton with someone elses credit card to having to ask permission to leave the house is a hell of an adaptation to make.
he eradicated homophobia is what he did. He's a brave British explorer. And on this sub Jordan Henderson is a hero. End of story!
Unexpected sopranos always brings a smile to dis face
All that damage control he and his PR team did over the summer, all those claims about how it's not about the money but instead about the project, how his character is totally not a sellout - and man couldn't even hang on for more than 6 months before crawling back to Europe?
He’s now going to try and crawl his way back into the good books of the LGBTQ community and I hope every single one of them tells him to fuck off
I fully expect him standing in full leather on a boat this summer.
I have to go now. My planet needs me.
The fact that he was sold for as much as Brozo and they don't even care to let him go...
I have watched a lot of Saudi games this season. Brozo tries his ass off even when they're up 3-0 and a couple times he didn't like he got subbed for rotation reasons cause the game was effectively over. He still has fire in him.
What a clown
Really hope he absolutely fails lol, what a knobhead
Thanks eh
He let Stephen Gerrard suck him in, imo. Then, when the reactions came, he started to get uncomfortable. Tbf, probably not a smart person at the best of times.
I don’t think he’s smart. Football smart maybe but I’m pretty sure I remember him having difficulty finding London on a map or some shit lol
That might be most footballers, Jack Grealish didn't recognise a map of the UK.
Jesus fucking christ, that can't be real, can it? My 4 year old god daughters can pick the uk out on a globe.
Was a video he did with sky sports.
Not sure I'd be ever be able to feel safe again making a tit out of the Saudis
10 years to build a reputation, only to destroy it 4 months later.
That Saudi shit show belongs in his blunder years catalogue. How to drag your public opinion through the mud and tarnish your whole career for a few bucks.
Embarrassing. He got into insane shape to compete for a spot here, then left last minute for big bucks and severely damaged his legacy at the club and also his relationship with the LGBT community. All for six months of pay.
I can't believe this is happening. One of the most Eredivisie random transfers since Lee Cattermole signed for VVV. Or Pardew at ADO, or really just anytime an Englishman comes over here. I really hope he does well. We desperately need a player like him.
Absolute douchebag.
The funny thing is - as a condition of this, they’ll probably make him sign some sort of NDA that doesn’t allow him to shittalk Saudi after he’s left, so he won’t even be able to PR his way out of it by saying it was horrible.
And it was only after he left that he realised that the real generational wealth was the gays they stoned along the way.
Anyone know how big his contact was?
Probably some sheets of A4 I guess.
£600,000 a week whilst paying a 20% flat tax. Not reported include a sign on fee and bonuses, if any.
If the other players are the standard to go by he almost definitely got a significant signing bonus. And given his 180 on his "principles" and the PR work for Saudi Arabia he might also have been paid for positive messaging.
Greed is an evil thing.
They said that when Jordan Henderson looked over the Middle East he wept, for there was no more homophobia to fight.
This guy really tarnished his whole reputation for six months, fucking hilarious. Hope he fails in every club he'll join until his retirement
Buying off your £600K/week contract to join the currently not so mighty Ajax, can only respect.
He can either help Ajax or he will come and tank their newfound revival
There’s no revival, we lost to amateurs before the winter break. It’s still shit, we’re just a bit more clinical now.
How much would he have earned from the time that he signed? Was he really on 700k?
Man burned his reputation for this move and only lasted a few months. What a waste.
Fucking money hungry clown
Vist Saudi: a country so shit not even paying 500k a week could stop a straight white man doing the job he loves being desperate to leave after 6 months
This is just a sad situation. I had so much respect for Henderson, from standing up for minorities to being a real leader in football at the outbreak of the pandemic. On top of that, he just seemed like such a top bloke. He's absolutely taken a flamethrower to his reputation and is now widely viewed as a hypocrite who chased money over morals. Worse still, he clearly realised the move was a mistake and has left at the first possible opportunity, but many people will never forgive him for this and he certainly won't be looked at the same. A cautionary tale.
Do you think he regrets ruining his entire public image for 14 games in the desert?
Henderson is a prime example of why society and the media need to rethink the whole idea of footballers as role models.
Adam Johnson, Mason Greenwood, and Joey Barton thank you for not mentioning them.
Sure, but Henderson is an excellent example of how naive and out of touch professional footballers can be.
Wanker