• Henderson eager to show his worth to England with strong performances at Al Ettifaq
  • Click here to view Jordan Henderson’s first interview at Al Ettifaq

JEDDAH: On the eve of the new Roshn Saudi League campaign, Al Ettifaq new recruit Jordan Henderson and coach Steven Gerrard have both underscored their commitment to nurturing the next generation of young Saudi Arabian footballing talent.

While the recent headlines have been about the big-name signings being made by SPL clubs ahead of the new season, a new strategy was rolled out earlier in the close season which places an emphasis on fostering young Saudi talent while also securing the best international players.

As part of the SPL and Saudi Arabian Football Federation strategy to drive competitiveness on and off the pitch, new regulations have been rolled out including an increase in playing time for young Saudi players by reducing age of eligibility from 18 to 16, and a requirement for squad sizes to include 25 senior players and 10 aged under 21 from the 2025-2026 season.

Henderson has been impressed by the quality of youngsters in the Al Ettifaq squad and is committed to helping the next generation develop in an exciting period for SPL, which also features world-class players such as former Anfield team-mates Roberto Firmino and Fabinho as well as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez to name a few.

Speaking at the official launch event of the Roshn Saudi League in Jeddah, Henderson said: “There are a lot of good young players in the team and it has been really positive to train and play with them – hopefully I can help them in lots of ways on and off the pitch with different things they may not be used to. They are young and it is a challenge and experience for me to help as many people as I can.”

Al Ettifaq coach Gerrard believes the future is bright for the Damman club ahead of the new season. Speaking at the SPL launch event in Jeddah, he said: “At Ettifaq we have a lot of promising young talent who have a bright future, and I am really proud to be coach of the team - hopefully I can help support these players and help develop them into better players in the future.”

Experienced midfielder Henderson was tempted to Saudi by new coach Gerrard, his former team-mate and on-pitch leader at Anfield. Having agreed to the move in the summer, he likened his experience so far to his ‘first day at school.’  

He said: “This is a totally different project and experience, and it is one of the reasons I wanted to come and try something completely different than I was used to for however many years. I’m excited and happy to be here and to get started. It’s obviously a very different challenge to anything I’ve ever done before and that’s one of reasons I wanted to try it and have new experience. I will learn a lot about myself in different ways, and it has been really positive.

“People have been very welcoming and helped me to settle in very well. The heat has been hard and it has been tough trying to adjust, but training has been good - I enjoyed it and I’ve been trying to embrace this different experience and culture and way of living and playing football.

“The people in Saudi have been amazing to us and very welcoming. The staff and the people around the city and the country in general have been very good to us and I’m looking forward to getting started now.”

Henderson is hopeful that strong performances in the Roshn Saudi League will keep the door open for England duty. National team coach Gareth Southgate recently revealed he held talks with the midfielder this summer, and admitted he would be “stupid” to turn his back on the experienced Liverpool star because of his close season move.

Henderson said: “I’m focused on playing for England and giving my best and if do that there’s no reason I can’t play for England. As the gaffer said, we spoke over the last few weeks about it as playing for England means a lot to me.

“I still feel I can bring a lot as I have showed in the last few games of the World Cup, but at the same time I have a job to do at Al Ettifaq – if I can do that, hopefully I can make the team as normal.”

Follow all the latest developments on Twitter at @SPL_EN (https://twitter.com/SPL_EN ) and on Instagram at @SPL (https://www.instagram.com/spl ), or visit the website https://spl.com.sa/en for more information and updates

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Media Contact:
William Tickell
William.tickell@hkstrategies.com