Southgate reveals Henderson sought England assurances before Saudi move
The England manager, Gareth Southgate, has revealed Jordan Henderson sought assurances from him before moving to Saudi Arabia.
Henderson recently joined the Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq, but was concerned about the prospect of being overlooked for England duty if he were to move. “I spoke to him in the summer, the question he wanted to know was: ‘If I move here, are you going to automatically rule me out?’” Southgate told TalkSport.
“We would be stupid to do that,” Southgate added. “Why would we rule anyone out based on where they are playing? We have got to see how they are playing. We have an idea of what [the Saudi] league will look like, but we won’t know until we actually start to see the games.”
The England manager also gave his thoughts on the criticism Henderson has received for the move, given the former Liverpool captain’s longtime support for the LGBTQ+ community and the Premier League’s Rainbow Laces campaign.
Homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf state stands accused of a host of other human rights abuses, including placing harsh restrictions on women’s rights and the right to political protest.
Pride in Football, a network of
LGBTQ+ fan groups, said the England midfielder had “lost the respect of so many people who valued and trusted” him, but Southgate insisted it is not a black and white matter.
“It’s not for me to judge any individual whether they’re in football or in any other industry,” Southgate said. “I don’t think he’s changing his view on what he believes in. What are we saying – nobody should go to Newcastle? Should nobody work for companies the Saudis own in London, or should nobody buy oil from the Saudis?”
“I think it’s very complicated, I completely understand the argument … Henderson has supported the LGBTQ+ community and I can understand why they would have a really strong view on it. I think it’s so difficult to say: ‘Is Henderson saying he doesn’t support that community any more?’ Well no, he isn’t, but of course people are going to say his actions are the reverse of that.”
Henderson will be making more money than he ever has before, with a reported £700,000 a week salary, but the standard of football in the league may affect whether his England career continues.
“I think that whole project is fascinating for where it is going to head and what that might look like over the next few years,” Southgate said of the Saudi league. “But Henderson won’t be playing in the Premier League. He won’t play in the Champions League, which is the easiest assessment for the level he is playing at.”