‘Money has never been a motivation,’ according to footballer Jordan Henderson, the ex Liverpool captain and recent recruit to Al Ettifaq in the Saudi pro-league. But it is hard to believe that the main reason for moving to the Middle East wasn’t the reported £700,000-a-week contract.
For many football fans, Henderson tarnished his reputation with his high-profile transfer earlier this summer. Now, he has finally broken his silence on the subject. Yet his interview with the Athletic might make matters worse.
One of the biggest criticisms aimed at the footballer – who was a vocal advocate of the rainbow laces and armband campaign in support of LGBT rights during his time in the Premier League – is that he has turned his back on gay fans. Many of these supporters have effectively disowned him over his move to a country where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death.
Henderson sounds a bit like a politician trying to sound high-minded
On the question of LGBTQ+ issues, Henderson stresses that he never intended to offend anyone. It ‘really hurts’ to be accused of turning his back on the communities he has supported, he says, and the criticism has been ‘hard to take’. Henderson believes the mere presence of someone with his well-known ‘values’ in the Saudi league is a positive thing; being there is, he insists, better than ‘bury(ing) your head in the sand’ or criticising from afar.
Few will be convinced. When pressed on whether those rainbow laces or armband will ever see the light of day again, he doesn’t rule it out, saying that he hasn’t been told specifically that he can’t do anything. But, later on, he stresses that the local culture and religion must be respected. Which surely means no, they won’t. Asked for specifics on what is likely to change as a result of his presence in Saudi Arabia, he is at a loss. ‘I’m not saying I can do that (change anything). I’m one person.’
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Henderson does provide some valuable context to the transfer, though, which might yield some sympathy. He says it was clear from discussions with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp that he was no longer central to his plans and would be spending a lot more time on the bench. This was, understandably, quite a come down for the captain and potentially prejudicial to his future England career. He adds that he didn’t feel there was much desire at the club for him to stay. Had there been, he strongly implies, he wouldn’t have gone:
‘If one of those people (the club management presumably) said to me, “Now we want you to stay”, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.’
Henderson also states that there wasn’t great demand for his services from other Premier League clubs: ‘I’d love to say that every club under the sun was wanting me. But the reality was they weren’t.’
He adds that playing for another English club against Liverpool would have been hard and that, in any case, he wanted something that would ‘excite him’ and where he could ‘add value’, ‘something new’.
Henderson says reports that he is on four times his Liverpool salary are not correct. ‘I wish it was (true)’, he says, before claiming never to have been motivated (solely) by money in his career and to never having discussed ‘the financials’ with his new manager Steven Gerrard. Their dialogues were all about ‘…what we could do together to achieve something special and build a club and build the league’ apparently.
It is hard not to be a bit cynical here, especially as such sentiments have been voiced repeatedly over the years in connection with the US (twice), China, Japan, and now Saudi Arabia. The common denominators in those cases were aging pros earning fantastic money then departing for home after a couple of seasons with the leagues having plateaued at a shallow level or fizzled out entirely. It’s always been more a case of a gold rush than the founding fathers with these ambitious startups.
To be fair, Henderson comes across as a nice enough sort of bloke, obviously stung by the criticism, pained by the damage to relationships, and keen to make amends. He didn’t choose a friendly journalist with whom he had an existing relationship, but two who were unknown to him, one of whom, Adam Crafton, describes himself as part of the LGBTQ+ community. No question was off limits and Henderson didn’t have final approval.
But despite his best efforts, Henderson sounds a bit like a politician trying to sound high-minded and reasonable while defending a screeching policy U-turn induced by bad polling data. You can’t help thinking he might have done better to have owned up to making the very human decision to realise a fantastic financial opportunity and enjoy a luxurious lifestyle for his family in a low stress working environment, even if it does clash with his ‘values’.
Still, with the Saudis clearly determined to nab the world’s best players whatever the price, some of whom have similarly carefully cultivated progressive profiles to Henderson, we had better prepare ourselves for more such tortured rationalisations.