Liverpool Agree £12M Deal to Sell Jordan Henderson to Al-Ettifaq

Few players in recent years have gone out of their way to put themselves on the right side of social issues quite like Jordan Henderson, who from support of LGBTQ+ to backing the NHS has been always been unwavering and vocal about the causes he claims to hold dear.

Today, at the player’s behest, Liverpool have reportedly agreed to a £12M base fee plus unspecified add-ons to sanction his sale to mid-table Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq, who are receiving their funding to pay his reported £350k wage directly from the government.

It will mean that Henderson’s final few years as a footballer are likely to see him paid not by a privately funded club but by a government that still has the death penalty as punishment for homosexuality, rather seeming to make his past support seem a craven PR stunt.

It’s also not the £700k wage some club-connected and seemingly briefed journalists talked about as a “life-changing opportunity” for him just last week. It is, on the other hand, tax free, and so unlike in England where his taxes help to fund the NHS he’ll get to keep it all.

With a transfer fee agreed, Henderson is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia shortly to undergo a medical and do a “document check” before completing the move, having made his final appearance as a Red in last season’s finale without anyone knowing it at the time.