by How bad was it? How horrible does Jordan Henderson have to live in the Saudi Arabian Pro League for this to be worth doing? He went there boldly, portraying himself as a pioneer for the development of Saudi football, naively insisting that he had to find out the truth about LGBTQ+ rights in Saudi Arabia; he is about to return to Europe with Ajax after six months, looking ridiculous and facing a huge tax bill.
Henderson was known as one of the brightest and hardest working footballers. He led a campaign to raise money for NHS staff during the pandemic and spoke out on issues of homophobia. As he clearly said in the famous interview he did in Athletics: “I have worn the laces. I have worn the wristband.” But when he got to it, he took the cash: he says the reported £700,000 a week is not the full amount, but “good money” nonetheless. Everyone has principles until they are offered £30m a year.
Related: Steven Gerrard defended the status but Al-Ettifaq post in the balance
That salary would be tax-free if Henderson stayed for two years. As it is, it will be subject to Saudi income tax at 20%. At the very least, he is now losing £3m in tax by leaving. But there is also the fact that he will be tax resident in the UK or the Netherlands for this tax year. In the UK, there is actually a 47% tax rate, including national insurance, on income at their level. In the Netherlands it is 49.5%. And that means a significant additional bill.
What was so grim about playing for Al-Ettifaq that made him take the financial hit? Wouldn’t it make him proud to stay out there? Given the furor and accusations of hypothermia about his departure, he wouldn’t want to stay on for at least a full season, so he could say you know what it’s not that bad ?
Al-Ettifaq have not won any of their last nine matches. Their average home goal this season is up 31% on last year, and in that sense Henderson has done his job. But it’s still only 7,854, which must be a waste in a 35,000 capacity stadium. They’re losing, there’s barely a full fifth on the ground, it’s hot, maybe Steven Gerrard wasn’t the inspired coach Henderson believed. But is any of that worth the opprobrium?
“We can all bury our heads in the sand and criticize different cultures and different countries in the distance,” Henderson said of the LGBTQ+ issue. “But then nothing is going to happen. Nothing is going to change.” Perhaps after inspecting the sand from above the surface, he realized how precarious his position was, that there is no way to fix a band of predictions. rainbow and Liverpool captain to take money from a club that grays that armband in publicity shots.
Henderson lived in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, a 75-minute drive from training. His family might not be able to settle down, which would at least make the decision to return explainable. And perhaps it’s too ugly to point out, as unsatisfying as his hypocrisy may be, credit goes to Henderson for being prepared to make himself look silly to the end to add to the misery.
Sadly, if Henderson had joined Ajax in the summer, it would have seemed like an interesting move. Gareth Southgate continued to pick Henderson throughout his time in Saudi Arabia but the 33-year-old may feel the Eredivisie will be better preparation for the Euros this summer. Ajax may not be what they used to be, but their name still has luster. There is no doubt that playing in front of 53,000 at the Amsterdam Arena is more attractive than the fifth full Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium.
Few English players have played for Ajax in the professional era. For a long time only former Tottenham trainee Ray Clarke scored 26 goals as he won the Dutch double in 1978-79 after coming through Swindon, Mansfield and Sparta Rotterdam. Chuba Akpom, signed from Middlesbrough last summer, is the only first-team squad, although 19-year-old goalkeeper Charlie Setford, who was born in Haarlem but played for England at level youth, on their books at Ajax. In that sense Henderson may have seemed a true pioneer, someone willing to take the road less travelled.
The example of Dusan Tadic shows what can be achieved in the Netherlands through the aging of Premier League players, even if Henderson will have a strange sense of living his career back: the classic model advanced as a young hopeful at Ajax, move. to Liverpool and enjoy European success and then, when the legs start to go, go into Sunderland.
But if the move is promising for Henderson, it’s very bad for the Pro League. It’s just Henderson. Karim Benzema has expressed his displeasure. There are rumblings from others. Renan Lodi is the only player to join a Saudi club from Europe so far in this transfer window. If even £30m a year can’t sustain a 33-year-old’s interest, perhaps no amount can.
The assumption was that the Saudi league was different from China, Qatar and the other upstart competitions because there was so much money available. Maybe this is just a blip, it will work out in the end. But Henderson, in turning his back on a move that had excited him so much, has damaged not only his own reputation but that of the entire project.
