How eye-watering money is failing to buy happiness for football stars in Saudi
The Saudi Pro League has emerged as a new financial powerhouse over the last 12 months, luring some of the best players in the world over to the Middle East.
Cristiano Ronaldo started the trend by moving to Al-Nassr after leaving Manchester United, and the likes of Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante and Liverpool trio Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino and Fabinho followed last summer.
The moves drew criticism from some quarters as concerns were raised over Saudi Arabia's human rights record and their treatment of the LGBTQ+ community - homosexuality is illegal in the country.
Yet players were happy to take the plunge, and it wasn't difficult to see why. The money on offer was simply eye-watering.
Take Henderson, for example. He was offered £700,000-a-week to join his former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq, wages the Reds simply could not match for their 33-year-old captain.
After deliberating for a number of days, Henderson accepted and was widely condemned, having previously shown support for the LGBTQ+ community. But he was set to pick up a life-changing salary in Saudi Arabia. Surely that would keep him happy?
Well, apparently not.
Mail Sport exclusively revealed last weekend that Henderson is desperate to return to the Premier League after struggling to settle in his first six months in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Ettifaq have failed to win a match in the last two months, have just lost their assistant manager Ian Foster to Plymouth Argyle, and criticism of Henderson's move is believed to have taken its toll on him.
Karan Trehan - a British entrepreneur and real estate broker based in Bahrain - was quoted in The Times earlier this month saying that Henderson and his wife Rebecca Burnett had 'really integrated into life here
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