El Ettifaq lure Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson

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Jordan Henderson is poised to join Steven Gerrard at Saudi Pro League club El Ettifaq after Liverpool has reportedly agreed in principle to the transfer. The transfer of their captain is pegged at GBP14m and is a three-year contract.

On Wednesday, Henderson did not feature in Liverpool’s first friendly pre-season against Karlsruher SC in Germany.

El Ettifaq pulls in Liverpool greats

The 33-year-old midfielder made 43 appearances for Liverpool last season and has two years on his contract.

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard signed up with El Ettifaq as their head coach earlier this month.

Saudi Pro League’s growing clout

The offer for Henderson follows close on the heels of an estimated GBP40m offer from Al-Ittihad for Liverpool midfielder Fabinho.

The talks with Al-Ittihad over Fabinho’s exit are still ongoing.

Al-Ittihad, unlike Al-Ettifaq, are one of the four Saudi Arabian clubs owned by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said about both deals, “As long as things are not really finally decided, we don’t have to talk about it. There will be a moment where we probably have to talk about it, but it’s not now. I don’t know that anything is decided, which means nothing to say in the moment. In the end, all of these decisions are made by me. And because I respect the players a lot, it’s usually with consent. It was in this case and it is all fine.”

Gerrard’s deal follows a string of other big names from the English Premier League that have been signed by Saudi clubs in recent months. Karim Benzema followed Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia. Henderson’s former Liverpool teammate Roberto Firmino has joined Al-Ahli.

N’Golo Kante is among the star names to have headed there during the offseason, with Riyad Mahrez also expected to move to Al-Ahli after Manchester City reportedly agreed deal worth up GBP30m for its winger.