Jordan Henderson is being courted by Steven Gerrard, the new manager of Al-Ettifaq, to join the Saudi Arabian team.
In an effort to reunite with Philippe Coutinho, who he signed when in charge of Aston Villa, the former manager is planning a raid on Villa Park. As the Kingdom works to increase the visibility of its domestic scene, clubs in the Saudi Pro League have been making significant investments.
Al-Ettifaq wants to be competitive, thus they are pursuing Coutinho, whom Villa wants to remove off their payroll. They are also keeping an eye on Alvaro Morata. Jordan Henderson, the captain of Liverpool, is Gerrard’s most ambitious objective, according to the Daily Mail.
Gerrard played alongside Henderson in the twilight of his career when the former Sunderland man was still establishing himself. The Liverpool skipper has been a stalwart of the recent success at Anfield and retains a strong relationship with Jurgen Klopp.
Henderson also has two years left on his deal at Liverpool and it remains to be seen whether he could be convinced to jump ship. The Reds are in the midst of a midfield rebuild and the 33-year-old could see his minutes limited going forward.
Al-Ettifaq and Gerrard are also weighing up a move for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who is out of favour at Chelsea. The 34-year-old forward may be tempted by a major pay day towards the end of his career whilst the Blues would be open to offloading the Gabon man.
Although Atletico Madrid is willing to trade Morata at a discount, the former Chelsea player faces an uncertain future there. However, teams in Italy are showing interest in Morata despite initial talks of a transfer to Saudi Arabia.
Semifinalists in the Champions League Both Jose Mourinho’s Roma and Inter Milan are interested in Morata, who has demonstrated his abilities in Serie A with Juventus in the past. With clubs in the Middle East offering enormous salaries that not all European clubs can match, it may come down to the player’s motivation.
Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad, and Al-Ahli are the four main Pro League clubs now under the management of Saudi Arabia’s Public Invest Fund (PIF). That has allowed them to bring in major names on big money, but Gerrard’s outfit are confident they can still compete.
Karim Benzema, Ruben Neves, N’Golo Kante, and Kalidou Koulibaly have all followed Cristiano Ronaldo as he relocated to the east. Concerns about Saudi Arabian teams using their financial might to snare players from the Premier League and other clubs in Europe are growing.
Gary Neville has raised serious issues and demanded a ban on teams selling their players to Saudi Arabia, frequently for exorbitant sums. The Premier League has not done this but has maintained its practises, which examine each move and determine whether it is being done at market value.
He told the BBC : “The Premier League should put an instant embargo on transfers to Saudi Arabia to ensure the integrity of the game isn’t being damaged. Checks should be made on the appropriateness of the transactions. If it comes through that process, obviously transfers could open up again.