Jordan Henderson transfer: Former Liverpool captain ditches Saudi league, how much was he ‘paid’ per appearance?

Jordan Henderson has seemingly had a change of heart regarding European football. Photo / Getty Images

The lucrative Saudi football league has lost one of its high-profile players as England midfielder Jordan Henderson quit Al-Ettifaq to sign for struggling Dutch powerhouse Ajax.

Henderson, a former Liverpool captain, lasted just six months in Saudi Arabia after joining the influx of top players, led by Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, moving to the kingdom on big-money deals.

That wasn’t enough for the 33-year-old Henderson, who reportedly struggled to settle in the Middle East and saw a return to European football as important in consolidating his place in England’s squad ahead of the European Championship.

Henderson’s deal with Al-Ettifaq was reportedly worth a quite frankly ridiculous $1.4 million a week. Even for the kingdom, that is absurd money for a 33-year-old.

The Champions League-winning captain made just 17 appearances in the Saudi Pro League across the six months he spent with Al-Ettifaq. Six months equates to roughly 26 weeks, so at $1.4m a week Henderson’s earnings come out to $36.4m total.

Divide that by the 17 matches and Henderson pocketed $2,141,176 per appearance. Not bad for a six-month sabbatical.

However, UK media are reporting that Henderson is yet to be paid any of his salary with his contract being undertaken on deferred payments. Whether or not Al-Ettifaq will be liable to pay the outstanding amount on the contract after his mutual termination is unclear.

If walking out on European football to be paid over $2m per appearance in front of crowds sometimes as little as 600 spectators wasn’t poor enough of a showing, the move sparked a fierce backlash from the LGBTQ+ community in England and damaged his reputation to many.

Amnesty International cautions that in Saudi Arabia, members of the LGBT community, including foreigners “risk imprisonment and corporal punishment for same-sex relations, expressing their identity or support for LGBT rights.”

“Your choice to side with our oppressors has seen most of [our] members absolutely shocked and angry,” Paul Amann, the founder of Kop Outs, Liverpool’s official LGBT+ Fans Group, wrote in an open letter after Henderson’s move to Al-Ettifaq was announced.

- with AP