Saudi Pro League CEO Saad Allazeez has spoken to mitigate the significance of former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson’s hasty departure from Al-Ettifaq to join Ajax after just six months in the Middle East.
Reflecting on Henderson’s departure, Allazeez said: “This is all just part of football, all across the world and life, across all careers. Sometimes, despite best efforts, people don’t always adjust or settle and that can impact performances and lead to frustrations for all.
“Jordan is a good guy and it’s a shame that things didn’t work out for him, but he’d be the first to admit that full support was given to him and respect shown. So everyone tried and no one is to blame.
“I’m pleased the club acted fast as they have to protect their own interests as well as the player and this instance, this is all for the best. Since their financial conditions for cancelling the contract were agreed, they can now make full use of the winter break and transfer window to reset and go again.”
Henderson’s move to Ajax was confirmed on Thursday evening after he agreed to terminate his Al-Ettifaq contract earlier this week. The awkward hasty exit is due to the former Liverpool skipper and his family not being able to settle down in the Middle Eastern nation. However, Allazeez sees this as an isolated incident rather than a recurring issue for new players moving to the league.
splashed the cash over the past 12 months, enticing superstars including Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar to leave Europe behind.
Mail Sport revealed last week that the Saudi Pro League have opted to increase the number of overseas players permitted to play for each team as they’e targetting the best young talent from across the globe.
Allazeez has hailed the progress made in recent months by the Saudi Pro League to bring in top players despite so unexpectedly losing Henderson only months after he joined the league.
“As a league we have the strength and depth to move forward. In fact, despite it being early days under our new strategy we have never been in a stronger position,” he added.
“So far in only five months, we’ve had more goals so become more entertaining, with more fans attending matches and watching in over 160 countries worldwide.
“We’ve become a younger league, more international and more attractive with commercial revenue up over 650% and new global partners. So, everything is trending in the right direction.
“Looking ahead, we are very positive and expect more good players to come in. But, of course, some will move on too. That comes with being a top league, especially when you consider squads are capped.
“So, we’d expect the flow of talent to go both ways. But overall, we are very happy at the progress and growth in just half a season. Firm foundations have been laid for future strength.”