Jordan Henderson waves goodbye to £4million as Ajax transfer confirmed and he could end up paying Al Ettifaq
Jordan Henderson has signed for Ajax - waiving £4million in wages in the process after tearing up his Al Ettifaq contract.
The former Liverpool star left Anfield last summer to reunite with Steven Gerrard at the Saudi club - penning a deal worth £8m a year.
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But he will defer his wages - which amount to half of that total after just six months with Al Ettifaq - having forced his way out of the club.
Ajax have agreed to sign Henderson on a two-and-a-half year deal, who has agreed to a significant pay cut to return to Europe.
It means that the England international will not see a penny of his wages earned while in Saudi Arabia - and could even end up paying them.
Al Ettifaq chose to negotiate with Henderson instead of Ajax, freeing up his contract and £8m in wages in the process - which has already been used to pay for a new contract for manager Gerrard.
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However, if Ajax qualify for Europe, the midfielder will have to pay his old club performance-based fees.
Ajax boss John van 't Schip: "We wanted an experienced midfielder with leadership qualities. Partially due to injuries in the team, we were looking for someone who could step in immediately. Jordan Henderson is that type of player."
"His arrival means a huge enhancement for our squad. Both on and off the pitch, a football player of this calibre is important for our many young players. He’s an English international player and has won the Champions League and many other prizes with Liverpool. I am happy he’s here, and I think it’s very good for our club that he’s an Ajacied from today onwards."
Despite Ettifaq insisting that their marquee signing was not for sale, they softened their stance after meeting him.
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Henderson signed a three-year contract at the club in the summer but did not settle in Saudi Arabia with his family based in Bahrain.
He said in a statement: “I’d like to thank the club, the fans and all involved for the opportunity and wish them the best for the remainder of the season.
"A lot of hard work is going in which I know will pay off in the future.
Speaking to talkSPORT Breakfast, Saudi football expert Ben Jacobs said: “Interestingly he hasn’t actually been paid any wages because he deferred them for tax purposes.
"A lot of hard work is going in which I know will pay off in the future.
Speaking to talkSPORT Breakfast, Saudi football expert Ben Jacobs said: “Interestingly he hasn’t actually been paid any wages because he deferred them for tax purposes.
“And when they met to discuss the terms of his exit, Henderson agreed to waive the wages he hasn’t yet received.
“I’m sure his move to Ajax will be billed as him wanting more game time ahead of Euro 2024, but it’s obvious he didn’t settle in Saudi Arabia. What’s the truth? It depends how much he’s prepared to say about it, or how much he can say based on the terms of his settlement with Al Ettifaq.
“He wasn’t necessarily a success in Saudi. He was captain, he was training very well and he was the model professional up until this, but Henderson ultimately decided to join a club that is not one of the big teams in Saudi Arabia.
“They’re a mid-table team under Steven Gerrard, they haven’t won a game since October but, to be fair to Ettifaq, Henderson should have known all of this and perhaps done more due diligence.
“His family were located in Bahrain and he had to drive across the border every day, which doesn’t take that long, but he was split between two bases, one where the club was and one where his family was.
“Ettifaq built him a new gym when he said the facilities were not up to scratch, it was a long-term vision, they saw him as a mentor for the other players and they gave him some recruitment say behind the scenes, in sports science and nutrition, he knew Gerrard – the club did all they could.
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“But the reality is it was a big step down from being captain of Liverpool and even though he played the games and tried to mentor the Saudi players around him, the standard was not up to scratch.
“When you add all of that up he never quite settled on and off the field.”
January 19, 2024 at 12:59AM Premier League Table, Fixtures, News, Results, Opinion - talkSPORT https://talksport.com
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