Former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has refuted claims linking his Saudi Arabia switch to money. The 31-year-old in an interview with The Athletic speaks against the popular belief that any player who moves to Saudi does that mainly because of money, meanwhile in reality that is not the case.
In part of the exclusive interview with The Athletic, Henderson shared his views:
“That (the money claims about moving to Ettifaq) was the hardest thing. People will see this club come with loads of money and he’s just gone, ‘Yeah, I’m going.’ When in reality that just wasn’t the case at all.
“People can believe me or not, but in my life and my career, money has never been a motivation. Ever. Don’t get me wrong, when you move, the business deal has to be tight. You have to have financials, you have to feel wanted, and you have to feel valued. And money is a part of that. But that wasn’t the sole reason. And these possibilities came up before money was even mentioned.
Henderson said the report of the money that he was been paid every week by Al Ettifaq was false:
“No, honestly, the numbers [of £700,000 a week] just aren’t true. But again, it had to work out for us financially as well. I’m not saying that it didn’t and I’m not saying, ‘Oh, I’m not on good money’ because it’s good money and it was a good deal but it wasn’t the numbers that were reported. No.
After guiding Liverpool to every possible trophy during his reign as captain of Liverpool, Jordan Henderson departed the club to join Saudi Arabian outfit Al Ettifaq for a fee of around £12m ending his 12-year voyage with the Red.
Recently, Three Lions manager, Gary Southgate has faced huge criticism for inviting Henderson who now plays in a league compared to the second tier of the English League.
