What would Henderson's Saudi u-turn cost him?
The Athletic FC Podcast
The Athletic
4.0 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 10 January 2024
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Last summer, the list of high-profile players leaving some of Europe’s biggest clubs to join the Saudi Pro League seemed to get longer by the day…
What started with a multi-million-pound pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo in December 2022 soon expanded to include the likes of Karim Benzema, Ruben Neves and of course, Jordan Henderson.
Well, now it seems Henderson wants out - and to return to the Premier League.
But it may not be that easy and could come at a significant cost... So what would an exit from the Saudi Pro League cost Henderson?
Ayo Akinwolere is joined by The Athletic's Sarah Shephard & Oliver Kay.
Produced by Adonis Pratsides & Jay Beale
Executive Producer: Adey Moorhead
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Athletic. |
| 0:04.7 | Last summer, the list of high-profile players leaving some of Europe's biggest clubs to join the Saudi Pro League seemed to get longer by the day. |
| 0:13.6 | A familiar story, Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia agreeing a deal for Manchester City's Riyadh Mars. |
| 0:21.4 | Al-Hilal have signed Namar. |
| 0:23.8 | Every sort of transfer you talk about, you're mentioning these Saudi clubs. |
| 0:28.8 | What started with a multi-million pound pursuit of Christiana Ronaldo in December 2022, |
| 0:33.9 | soon expanded to include the likes of Karim Benzima, Ruben Nevis, and of course Jordan Henderson. |
| 0:40.4 | Well, now it seems Henderson wants out and to return to the Premier League. |
| 0:46.1 | And I'm afraid to say it may not be that easy. |
| 0:49.8 | I'm Ayahuakimuelere. |
| 0:51.1 | Welcome to the Athletic Football Podcast. |
| 1:03.8 | Music Mayo Oakemuelere. Welcome to the Athletic Football Podcast. Oh, it's good to be back. |
| 1:05.4 | Happy New Year, everyone, in the studio. |
| 1:08.4 | For my first podcast of the New Year, we have The Athletic Sarah Shepard and also |
| 1:11.8 | Olly Kay, who've both dropped a piece on Jordan Henderson that you can read now on The Athletic |
| 1:17.5 | as well. Right, let's get into this. In September, Jordan Henderson told the Athletic he wanted |
| 1:21.9 | a move that would excite him. Sarah, when you heard that, and I know it was a groundbreaking interview with both |
| 1:29.3 | Adam Crafton and David Ornstein, were you sceptical? |
| 1:32.3 | Um, yes, yes and no, I think. Um, it is a player moving somewhere where I, like, completely |
| 1:42.3 | believe that he was sold something that probably did sound very exciting. |
| 1:47.0 | You know, an opportunity to help build something brand new, to be a big part of something that's growing and, you know, |
| 1:55.0 | trying to potentially change things in a country that is telling people it's trying to move in a new direction. |
... |
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