THE most obvious response to news that Jordan Henderson wants to leave Saudi Arabia after just six months is to have a good laugh at him.
To ridicule the idea that this long-term advocate of LGBTQ+ rights should ever have claimed it was a “positive thing” that he’d moved to a country which outlaws, tortures and even kills people for being gay.
And also, on a sporting level, to chuckle at the idea — sadly supported by England boss Gareth Southgate — that Henderson should still be a regular international starter after moving to Al-Ettifaq, where attendances are at League One level and playing standards perhaps even lower still.
But Henderson, who captained Liverpool to Premier League and Champions League crowns, is now acknowledging he has made a spectacularly bad career choice and wants a move back to England, or elsewhere in Europe.
Midfielder Henderson more than doubled his Anfield wages when he joined last summer’s exodus of Premier League players to the Saudi Pro League.
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But the 33-year-old’s U-turn will have significant tax implications if he returns home after less than two years — meaning he won’t even benefit financially from his foolish move.
During 2023, it often felt as though the Saudi grip on elite sport was tightening, that there was an inexorable move towards world domination by this oppressive, oil-rich, sportswashing regime.
The Saudi Pro League had signed up Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema — as well as Premier League stars still in their pomp such as Ruben Neves, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Aymeric Laporte.
Saudi-owned Newcastle had swiftly secured Champions League football, golf had been ripped asunder by the Saudi-funded rebel LIV tour and elite heavyweight boxing became enthralled by Saudi financial might.
But particularly when it comes to elite footballers moving to the Saudi Pro League, there was always one major drawback. They’d be living in Saudi Arabia.
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This is not the United Arab Emirates or Qatar, where it is easier to go about daily life without being constantly aware you are living under a stiflingly oppressive regime.
And until you visit Saudi, it’s difficult to imagine quite how alien the place feels to anyone brought up in a liberal western democracy.
Saudi is very different. From the idea that groups of men cannot eat in the same room of a restaurant as families with children, to the complete absence of alcohol, to men-only hotel pools, the cultural differences are obvious and plentiful.
Personally, I wouldn’t move to Saudi for ten times my salary. I’d imagine many westerners who do move there for financial reasons would quickly realise there is more to life.
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Henderson is not the only footballer to have left the Premier League for Saudi last summer who is regretting his decision. His ex-Liverpool team-mate Roberto Firmino also wants out and several others will follow.
Professional football is a small world. Word gets around quickly that life in Saudi can be difficult and that the football is sub-standard.
So Henderson’s change of heart is a positive, a pushback against the idea of a Saudi sporting takeover. He is a decent bloke who made a rash decision and shouldn’t spend his life tarnished by it.
When it comes to elite footballers moving to the Saudi Pro League, there was always one major drawback.. they’d be living in Saudi Arabia.
Dave Kidd
The idea that there is more to life than money is an unusual one in elite sport but, who knows, it might just catch on.
Perhaps more leading golfers might decide that imperilling the fabric of their sport by joining LIV could be extremely short-sighted.
Maybe — and this really is a long shot — Britain’s leading boxing promoters might look at the bigger picture, rather than staging every major heavyweight fight in Saudi.
The size and spectacle of Anthony Joshua’s four sell-out world-title bouts at Wembley and Cardiff in 2017 and 2018 were unprecedented and phenomenal.
Yet those occasions are now a thing of the past because Joshua’s manager, Eddie Hearn, and Tyson Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, are completely in thrall to Saudi cash.
Fury’s unification fight against Oleksandr Usyk will be in the Saudi capital Riyadh next month and Joshua fights in Saudi for a fourth time, against Francis Ngannou, in March.
Comparing the atmosphere at those Cardiff and Wembley shows with the eerie, soulless, experience of a Saudi fight night is a chalk-and-cheese business.
The strong connection between Joshua and the British public has now been severed.
Should the long-awaited Joshua-Fury fight — the biggest in this nation’s boxing history — ever happen it would surely now be in Saudi, with very few Brits travelling to such an inhospitable land to watch live.
Henderson’s initial move proved that few sportsmen genuinely care about human rights when there is extra wonga to be made.
Sadly, that is too much to expect. But Henderson’s U-turn does point to the idea that, even in elite sport, money might not always be everything.
KAISER CHIEF
YOU’D have to be even older than me to have watched Franz Beckenbauer play.
But there are a select few greats of the world game where that hardly matters.
When John Stones is referred to as ‘the Barnsley Beckenbauer’, we know it means he is a versatile defensive player with an uncommon ease on the ball.
Even Stones admits he’s flattered by the comparison.
Beckenbauer’s death, at the age of 78, is a time to doff caps to one of the English game’s most respected rivals.
TRENT MUST WALK IN
KYLE WALKER will be England’s first-choice right-back at the Euros as the Manchester City man is a world-class defender and a favourite of boss Gareth Southgate.
But we’ve reached the point where Trent Alexander-Arnold is just simply too good not to be in the England side.
Playing first as a right-back who stepped into central midfield, then in the engine room for the decisive final 20 minutes, he produced an exceptional captain’s performance in Liverpool’s FA Cup win at Arsenal.
He should start with Declan Rice at the base of the England midfield, where his range of passing and set-piece ability could be crucial this summer.
ART'S JUST NOT IN IT
AFTER a miserable run of three straight defeats, and one win in seven, there is some good news for Arsenal fans.
Mikel Arteta’s side are only playing once in the next three weeks.
They say the players need a winter break. Sometimes supporters do too.
Sunday's game featured the strangest chant of the weekend, from Liverpool fans, who sang ‘F*** the Tories!’ to Arsenal rivals.
This, in trendy Islington, where Jeremy Corbyn has been the MP for 40 years.
NO NEED TO GET SNAPPY
THE Celebration Police have been out in force to condemn Newcastle’s players and staff for their triumphalist group photo in front of the Toon Army following the FA Cup win at Sunderland.
But if you can’t show off after a first victory over your bitter rivals in more than 12 years then when can you do so?
Even though Sunderland’s team for the Stadium of Light grudge match was so fresh-faced that many of them looked too young to even reach a world darts final.
WHAT A COOK-UP
DEPENDING on who you speak to, Garry Cook — the former Manchester City chief executive now in a similar role at Birmingham — is either a brilliant visionary or the silliest man in football.
But the decision to appoint Wayne Rooney as Blues manager, then sack him after two wins in 15 matches, points to the latter.
Apart from his propensity to gob off in public, Cook’s greatest weakness has always been an obsession with marquee names.
And the appointment of football managers should never be made on that basis.
