The frankly ludicrous amounts of cash being offered in Saudi Arabia has managed to entice many of todays superstar footballer’s to now ply their trade in the Saudi Pro League. With the likes of Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane, and Brazilian icon Neymar all calling the Middle East their new home.

With so many notable signings, it is that of Jordan Henderson to Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq that is garnering the most attention, and rightly so as his signature on his reported £700k a week contract raises concern in regards to the morality of a sport that has been on a slippery slope for far too long in my eyes.

It is somewhat understandable that the likes of Henderson head to these new pastures at the twilight of their career for an extremely handsome payday, it is rather the refusal to acknowledge it as such, that sticks in the throat of the everyday football fan.

His eagerly awaited comments on the controversial transfer have only continued to enflame the situation. He persists to suggest that his willingness to join his new club has nothing to do with money, which is a tired narrative that has been spun far too many times in recent years.

Jordan is adamant that his ambitions to play for his country remain as fierce as ever, yet he has decided to join a league that is made up of scatter gun signings that give the teams that have made them an admitted sparkle on the surface. Yet beneath that I cannot imagine that the core and foundations of the game are anywhere near as strong as elite European football, in terms of player depth, development, and infrastructure.

It therefore a shame that some truly talented players in the prime of their career are fundamentally exchanging cash for glory, as the dream of reaching the pinnacle of the game must come by testing yourself against the best opposition week in and week out.

Alas, leaving the hotbed of the global big league’s can only hinder that journey, as iron certainly sharpens iron in any sport. I fear that both the hunger and the tools that got them to the dance could certainly be blunted over time, due to a bloated bank balance and the quality of opposition.

The latter is the side of the game that Jordan professes to want to develop, and some might say that it would be an admirable mission. However, it is his history of aligning himself with the LGBTQ+ community that throws all of his reasoning into complete shambles.

He has been such a staunch advocate of inclusion and diversity throughout his tenure as captain of Liverpool Football Club. He was both admired and respected for speaking up for others when they felt they couldn’t. Whilst in a show of solidarity he was always seen on the pitch proudly wearing the LGBTQ+ rainbow colors on his boot laces and captain’s armband.

Jordan once wrote this in a Liverpool matchday program, expressing his support for Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign….

“I do believe when you see something that is clearly wrong and makes another human being feel excluded you should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them”

However, with this highly questionable transfer, it is plausible that this image of Henderson may well have been hand crafted from the get go, as someone so passionate about inclusivity has now chosen to work in a state where homosexuality is punishable by death.

Whilst the project to glamorize and enhance their Football teams is fundamentally a ploy to boost the faltering image of a country that has failed miserably for years in terms of basic human rights, which flies in the face of what he has supposedly stood for.

Without attempting to assassinate the character of a seemingly dedicated professional athlete, it would seem that Jordan’s mask has slipped. As much like everything in modern media you cannot always trust what you see on the surface as PR and image holds so much weight in the world, with highly lucrative endorsement deals hinging on it.

Many would say that it is up to him with what he does with his life, which is of course true. But when you have entrenched yourself so deeply into a community that has been marginalized for years, it is most hurtful when that person trades these profound emotional connections for material possessions.

It is a truly bitter pill to swallow, and the outcry from the LGBTQ+ community has been profound. Whilst Henderson continues to speak on how much he has done for inclusivity by wearing the arm band, and it continues to show a complete lack of awareness in regards to how deep his actions have harmed a vulnerable community.

How much wealth one person needs can only be answered by the man himself, and the same can be asked of each person that has signed their name to these extortionate contracts, as the game has already afforded these players a wealth most of us couldn’t imagine already. Sadly for some footballer’s this has become what the game is about, whilst I continue to feel a disconnect with a sport that is beginning to lose its meaning.

Where this worrying trend will end is anyone’s guess and it will continue to alienate the everyday person from the game if the Saudi business model continues to gain pace, as ultimately there are things in life that eclipse Football in terms of importance.

So I question if we can we justify paying these players such vast sums of money to play a game, when we live in a world that is stricken by so many issues.

Jordan’s inability to grasp the gravity of his decision is disappointing, although not entirely surprising to me, and in time I think he will regret his decision to trade his reputation for cold hard cash, as the enormous respect for his character has now completely evaporated.

The man who once wore the bright rainbow captain’s armband has seemingly cast it aside into the mud, and upon it’s retrieval I would suggest that the indelible stain that has been left on it by Jordan and his actions may unfortunately take a long time to wash off, if ever at all.

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Phil.