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Saudi Professional League 23/24
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Jordan Henderson is eager to return to the Premier League in a shock move that would cost him millions of pounds in tax and lost wages.
The England midfield player has struggled to settle since completing a £12million transfer from Liverpool to Saudi Arabian side Al Ettifaq last summer and will seriously consider any offers the club receive this month.
In addition to adjusting to a different lifestyle the 33-year-old has also struggled with the heat and humidity of the playing conditions, while Al Ettifaq's average attendance this season of 7,800 in a 35,000-capacity stadium has proved less than inspiring.
The abuse he has received for moving to Saudi in the first place, which has been criticised as an allegedly betrayal of the LGBTQ+ community, has also taken its toll.
Henderson is understood to have told team-mates he is considering his options before taking a short holiday during the Saudi Pro League's winter break.
Diddums.
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Erm... Why do they need a Winter Break out there?2
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Think the Asian Cup is on, not sure if that's the reason why.ForeverAddickted said:Erm... Why do they need a Winter Break out there?1 -
Read an article the other day, and both Henderson and Gerrard live in Bahrain, as it's just over the border from their club, and more relaxed.1
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Just seen some shocking footage of Andy Delort going down with no one near him and having some sort of fit or seizure. This is in Qatar and hopefully he will be ok.0
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Jordan Henderson looks set to have his Contract cancelled, ahead of a move to Ajax0
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I'm sure the millions he has earned in his brief Saudi stint will have made it all worth it. Can't see him being the last of the mercenaries to jack it in early over there.1
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What a div. Ruined his reputation by going for the money then bails within a few months. Got to be one of the worst decisions ever football transfer wise. I am surprised they are cancelling his contract having spent £12M on him. Maybe small fry for the Saudis but sets a slightly dangerous precedent for them.6
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Rumours about Firmino and Benzema.AllHailTheHen said:I'm sure the millions he has earned in his brief Saudi stint will have made it all worth it. Can't see him being the last of the mercenaries to jack it in early over there.0 -
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"Raith_C_Chattonell said:Paraphrased from today's Mirror.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.0 -
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Look they have ample money to pour into 20,000 white elephants. Attendences totally irrelevant. Its all about soft powerChris_from_Sidcup said:
And those figures are distorted by a couple of big crowds that Al Hilal and Al Ittihad got for games against the other 'big 4'.Raith_C_Chattonell said:Paraphrased from today's Mirror.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
13 of the 18 teams in the league have an average attendance less than 9k.
11 of the teams recorded an attendance of less than 2k.
1 team (Al Riyadh) got a crowd of 133 for a game.
Of the 13 game weeks so far, in 11 of them the total for all games combined that week was less than Dortmund get for each home game.0 -
The soft power only works though if the rest of the world actually watches the Saudi League.KingKinsella said:
Look they have ample money to pour into 20,000 white elephants. Attendences totally irrelevant. Its all about soft powerChris_from_Sidcup said:
And those figures are distorted by a couple of big crowds that Al Hilal and Al Ittihad got for games against the other 'big 4'.Raith_C_Chattonell said:Paraphrased from today's Mirror.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
13 of the 18 teams in the league have an average attendance less than 9k.
11 of the teams recorded an attendance of less than 2k.
1 team (Al Riyadh) got a crowd of 133 for a game.
Of the 13 game weeks so far, in 11 of them the total for all games combined that week was less than Dortmund get for each home game.1 -
They are not going to sink the Premier League regardless of how many big names go over there. Football in this country is not just about the money, as much as it seems like that. Football clubs are part of the culture here, how many real Man United or Chelsea or City or any other big club fans would stop going if they lost their biggest players to Saudi? Not many I would wager. That's real fans, not fake ones from around the world.KingKinsella said:
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"Raith_C_Chattonell said:Paraphrased from today's Mirror.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.3 -
Hopefully it will be a fresh start for him.ForeverAddickted said:Jordan Henderson looks set to have his Contract cancelled, ahead of a move to Ajax2 -
And Lyle Taylor will play CL football.KingKinsella said:
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"Raith_C_Chattonell said:Paraphrased from today's Mirror.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.0 -
Mercenaries of the highest order.Athletico Charlton said:What a div. Ruined his reputation by going for the money then bails within a few months. Got to be one of the worst decisions ever football transfer wise. I am surprised they are cancelling his contract having spent £12M on him. Maybe small fry for the Saudis but sets a slightly dangerous precedent for them.
They make Lyle an angel in comparison.0 -
Clarke Harris as welliaitch said:
Rumours about Firmino and Benzema.AllHailTheHen said:I'm sure the millions he has earned in his brief Saudi stint will have made it all worth it. Can't see him being the last of the mercenaries to jack it in early over there.
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Andy Scott has turned their headsiaitch said:
Rumours about Firmino and Benzema.AllHailTheHen said:I'm sure the millions he has earned in his brief Saudi stint will have made it all worth it. Can't see him being the last of the mercenaries to jack it in early over there.1 -
UK is a small market. When all the top players are mopped up by Saudi's the rest of the world will be watching them not the Premier League. It will take a decade, but they can do it if they want to. You and I will be watching CAFC, and Chelsea fans will be watching Chelsea.jacob_CAFC said:
They are not going to sink the Premier League regardless of how many big names go over there. Football in this country is not just about the money, as much as it seems like that. Football clubs are part of the culture here, how many real Man United or Chelsea or City or any other big club fans would stop going if they lost their biggest players to Saudi? Not many I would wager. That's real fans, not fake ones from around the world.KingKinsella said:
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"Raith_C_Chattonell said:Paraphrased from today's Mirror.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.3 -
Stu_of_Kunming said:
And Lyle Taylor will play CL football.KingKinsella said:
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"Raith_C_Chattonell said:Paraphrased from today's Mirror.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
Ha! He's not good enough. Good enough for League 1 tho'? lets see at he end of the season,. I think yes and he will score against usStu_of_Kunming said:
And Lyle Taylor will play CL football.KingKinsella said:
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"Raith_C_Chattonell said:Paraphrased from today's Mirror.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.0 -
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And we'll all say well done Lyle top stuff, you were so misunderstood by the fans........or maybe not.0
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I think the Saudi league will die on it's arse pretty soon & I'm bloody pleased about it!!!6
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Pleased to see Jordan Henderson clean up his reputation by going to Ajax.3
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Rumours are he might not get paid anyway - deferred the payments for tax reasons and as part of cancelling the contract (and costing the club £12m), he's had to agree to leave them.Athletico Charlton said:What a div. Ruined his reputation by going for the money then bails within a few months. Got to be one of the worst decisions ever football transfer wise. I am surprised they are cancelling his contract having spent £12M on him. Maybe small fry for the Saudis but sets a slightly dangerous precedent for them.
A lesson in learning to be happy with already being worth millions.3 -
Will never happen. Yes they will no doubt continue to sign big names in the twilight of their career and maybe the odd couple of younger players but it will never fully take off.KingKinsella said:
UK is a small market. When all the top players are mopped up by Saudi's the rest of the world will be watching them not the Premier League. It will take a decade, but they can do it if they want to. You and I will be watching CAFC, and Chelsea fans will be watching Chelsea.jacob_CAFC said:
They are not going to sink the Premier League regardless of how many big names go over there. Football in this country is not just about the money, as much as it seems like that. Football clubs are part of the culture here, how many real Man United or Chelsea or City or any other big club fans would stop going if they lost their biggest players to Saudi? Not many I would wager. That's real fans, not fake ones from around the world.KingKinsella said:
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"Raith_C_Chattonell said:Paraphrased from today's Mirror.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
There is too much prestige tied to the big European clubs and the champions league. No serious player is going there in his prime. The atmosphere at most games is awful, no one really wants to live there, and after just a short time we're already seeing some players want to leave. Henderson is the first, but there will be more.
There's also the issue for now (although i'm sure it will change) in that Saudi clubs are only allowed 8 overseas players. The big 4 that are owned by PIF have already filled their quotas with players on multiple year contracts. So what happens next summer when they want to sign more big names? They're all on huge money, so will they just pay off existing players to go?1 -
UK is a small market, hilariousKingKinsella said:
UK is a small market. When all the top players are mopped up by Saudi's the rest of the world will be watching them not the Premier League. It will take a decade, but they can do it if they want to. You and I will be watching CAFC, and Chelsea fans will be watching Chelsea.jacob_CAFC said:
They are not going to sink the Premier League regardless of how many big names go over there. Football in this country is not just about the money, as much as it seems like that. Football clubs are part of the culture here, how many real Man United or Chelsea or City or any other big club fans would stop going if they lost their biggest players to Saudi? Not many I would wager. That's real fans, not fake ones from around the world.KingKinsella said:
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"Raith_C_Chattonell said:Paraphrased from today's Mirror.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
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Yes, it's the lack of history, club rivalries and atmosphere. They'll never be able to replicate the derbies etc that makes the EPL so popular around the world.Chris_from_Sidcup said:
Will never happen. Yes they will no doubt continue to sign big names in the twilight of their career and maybe the odd couple of younger players but it will never fully take off.KingKinsella said:
UK is a small market. When all the top players are mopped up by Saudi's the rest of the world will be watching them not the Premier League. It will take a decade, but they can do it if they want to. You and I will be watching CAFC, and Chelsea fans will be watching Chelsea.jacob_CAFC said:
They are not going to sink the Premier League regardless of how many big names go over there. Football in this country is not just about the money, as much as it seems like that. Football clubs are part of the culture here, how many real Man United or Chelsea or City or any other big club fans would stop going if they lost their biggest players to Saudi? Not many I would wager. That's real fans, not fake ones from around the world.KingKinsella said:
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"Raith_C_Chattonell said:Paraphrased from today's Mirror.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
There is too much prestige tied to the big European clubs and the champions league. No serious player is going there in his prime. The atmosphere at most games is awful, no one really wants to live there, and after just a short time we're already seeing some players want to leave. Henderson is the first, but there will be more.
There's also the issue for now (although i'm sure it will change) in that Saudi clubs are only allowed 8 overseas players. The big 4 that are owned by PIF have already filled their quotas with players on multiple year contracts. So what happens next summer when they want to sign more big names? They're all on huge money, so will they just pay off existing players to go?0 -
Saw a good piece in the Guardian today about Henderson, which said he appears to be living his career in reverse: the classic model would be to emerge as a young hopeful at Ajax, move to Liverpool and enjoy European success and then, when the legs start to go, join Sunderland.soapboxsam said:Pleased to see Jordan Henderson clean up his reputation by going to Ajax.2 -
The richest, most popular and most viewed league in the world is hardly a small market. 4 Saudi clubs owned by PIF is not going to threaten that.KingKinsella said:
UK is a small market. When all the top players are mopped up by Saudi's the rest of the world will be watching them not the Premier League. It will take a decade, but they can do it if they want to. You and I will be watching CAFC, and Chelsea fans will be watching Chelsea.jacob_CAFC said:
They are not going to sink the Premier League regardless of how many big names go over there. Football in this country is not just about the money, as much as it seems like that. Football clubs are part of the culture here, how many real Man United or Chelsea or City or any other big club fans would stop going if they lost their biggest players to Saudi? Not many I would wager. That's real fans, not fake ones from around the world.KingKinsella said:
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"Raith_C_Chattonell said:Paraphrased from today's Mirror.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
The PL basically laugh at the Saudi league and clubs see it as a chance to offload unwanted players.0 -
I think there’s a piece around timing too.Jints said:
Yes, it's the lack of history, club rivalries and atmosphere. They'll never be able to replicate the derbies etc that makes the EPL so popular around the world.Chris_from_Sidcup said:
Will never happen. Yes they will no doubt continue to sign big names in the twilight of their career and maybe the odd couple of younger players but it will never fully take off.KingKinsella said:
UK is a small market. When all the top players are mopped up by Saudi's the rest of the world will be watching them not the Premier League. It will take a decade, but they can do it if they want to. You and I will be watching CAFC, and Chelsea fans will be watching Chelsea.jacob_CAFC said:
They are not going to sink the Premier League regardless of how many big names go over there. Football in this country is not just about the money, as much as it seems like that. Football clubs are part of the culture here, how many real Man United or Chelsea or City or any other big club fans would stop going if they lost their biggest players to Saudi? Not many I would wager. That's real fans, not fake ones from around the world.KingKinsella said:
"One can only hope that money doesn't ruin the game we all love"Raith_C_Chattonell said:Paraphrased from today's Mirror.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia spent £701 million pounds on big name players last summer.
According to Michael Emenalo (Saudi Pro League director of football) the focus will now switch to players in their prime. However, it's not all plain sailing as the average attendance to a pro league game is just 8470 with some games attracting less than a 1000.
One can only hope that their money doesn't ruin the game we all love.
The game has always been about money from about the time that players stopped going to games on the bus, and the salary cap went. My guess s that's about 60 years ago. The Saudi development is just another stage. They have the spending power to shrink and sink the Premiership, my guess is that they will. It just a case of whether they want to see it though.
There is too much prestige tied to the big European clubs and the champions league. No serious player is going there in his prime. The atmosphere at most games is awful, no one really wants to live there, and after just a short time we're already seeing some players want to leave. Henderson is the first, but there will be more.
There's also the issue for now (although i'm sure it will change) in that Saudi clubs are only allowed 8 overseas players. The big 4 that are owned by PIF have already filled their quotas with players on multiple year contracts. So what happens next summer when they want to sign more big names? They're all on huge money, so will they just pay off existing players to go?
The Premier League was by no means the most popular league in the world at the start of this century, that was probably Spain. But the astronomical deals with Sky, combined with a pretty fair way of distributing the wealth (amongst the 20 teams in the league), came at exactly the right time as new media created the opportunity to sell the game to the world in a way that wasn’t previously possible.
That this happened at the right time means there are now huge audiences for the Premier League all over the world that consider themselves real fans of PL teams even if they’ve never set foot in, and never will set foot in, England. That probably seems strange to us as Charlton fans because, really, we missed the boat on all of this by falling out of the PL before things really took off.I don’t think, however much Saudi Arabia spend on players they can ever really replicate how ingrained the PL has became to hundreds of millions (maybe billions) of people all over the world. People might watch if they have nothing else to do, but they won’t care. That means viewers won’t build the brand loyalty to Saudi league and, by extension, Saudi Arabia itself. Therefore the purpose of sports washing for the Saudi regime is essentially defeated.It’s similar to the Italian and Spanish leagues doing things like playing their “Super Cup” in Saudi (which included some pretty awful scenes when a moments silence for Franz Beckenbauer was booed…). They’re all desperately trying to replicate or catch up to the Premier League, but they never will.Didn’t expect that post to turn into a multi paragraph dissertation, apologies all!3
