Steven Gerrard has revealed the role Cristiano Ronaldo played in his move to Saudi Arabia.
The Liverpool legend took over as Al-Ettifaq manager in July, having been out of work since being sacked by Aston Villa in October 2022. The 43-year-old had initially snubbed an approach from the Saudi Pro League after initial talks, only to u-turn when applications for two Championship jobs, believed to be Leeds United and Leicester City, came to nothing.
Ronaldo had made his own move to the Saudi Pro League in January 2023, signing for Al-Nassr following his premature release from Manchester United. That transfer would pave the way for a plethora of high-profile stars, such as Neymar, Karim Benzema, and Liverpool legend Sadio Mane, to follow in his footsteps and complete their own switches to the Gulf State last summer.
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And Gerrard admits that he had been following the Saudi Pro League from afar following Ronaldo’s transfer, with the Portuguese’s move sowing a seed in his own mind which led to him exploring his own Middle Eastern opportunities before taking over at Al-Ettifaq seven months later.
“The arrival of ‘The GOAT’ as we call him, Cristiano (Ronaldo), him arriving in January obviously (was) a huge signing,” he said. “He still had a lot of football to offer.
“So, from afar, for six months, I was looking in at Cristiano Ronaldo’s results, at the league, watching some games and watching some highlights. I think from that moment, the league around the world had become a very popular talking point for everyone. After Cristiano’s arrival, even more big-name signings, talents and skill sets were joining the league.
“At the time it coincided with me being out of the game and looking for my next opportunity, so I was fascinated from afar looking in, and when my agent brought a couple of opportunities in the gulf area at the time, I was fascinated to explore them.
“The Ettifaq proposal and opportunity was the most exciting for me because I’ve signed up to a club where the board are very passionate. They understand where the club is at, they understand it’s something that’s going to need building, and it’s going to take time.
“That’s the reason why I was very interested to analyse this one, because in my job you need time. Especially when a club has finished seventh in the league and so many points behind the top four.
"That’s not an easy fix; it’s not something you fix in a week, a month, or six months. It’s a project to build on the pitch, which is obviously the priority, but also a lot of things needed to change around it to give the first team the support it needs.”
For the record, Al-Ettifaq currently sit seventh in the Saudi Pro League table and suffered a round-of-16 exit to Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in the King’s Cup last month, with Gerrard overseeing seven wins from his first 15 games in charge. However, his side have won just one of their last seven matches in all competitions.
Weeks after taking over at Al-Ettifaq, Gerrard turned to former club Liverpool to bring in former team-mate and his successor as captain, Jordan Henderson, in a controversial £12m transfer. Former Reds star Gini Wijnaldum would also later join the club in September, having struggled at Paris Saint-Germain and on loan at AS Roma since leaving Anfield behind in 2021.
Both aged 33, the midfield pair’s best days are inevitably behind them, having been vital members of Jurgen Klopp’s side that won both the Premier League and Champions League.
But Gerrard has revealed why he was still so keen to bring both Henderson and Wijnaldum to Al-Ettifaq as he went about strengthening his side.
“I think when you’re the coach, the manager, you want players going into games that can be an extended version of the staff,” he told the Saudi Pro League in a sit-down interview. “People, who can really help on-pitch coaching; where the team needs to be in terms of distances, to make on-field decisions.
“Myself and Jordan (Henderson) we have that trust. We played together and he’s a fantastic player still, a fantastic human being. For us, to execute that signing was key and very important and I think a lot of the other signings we made came on the back of Jordan agreeing to come here.
"I think he wanted to still play, I think that was the key. He was at Liverpool at the time, he’s had a fantastic career, he’s achieved everything at that club, he’s been a fantastic servant to Liverpool Football Club.
“But I think in the previous months, maybe him not being a regular starter in the team, when you get to that age, I’ve been there myself under Brendan Rodgers when, you’re the captain, you play all the games, then all of a sudden you’re on the bench or you’re not getting as many minutes as you’d like, and that’s when you analyse and think about a different challenge.
“And when we knew it was a possibility, I wanted to be aggressive and wanted that to be my first signing, because for me it was a no-brainer.
"Still a fantastic player, he’s a leader, an on-pitch coach. His standards on how he lives his daily life on and off the pitch is good for our young players to see, watch and learn. Jordan understands the size of the project, that it’s not a quick fix. He wants to be part of the journey and building it with us, but he was a very important signing at a key time.”
He continued: “Gini (Wijnaldum) recently hasn’t played as much football as he would have liked. He had an injury where he broke his leg, and his last couple of experiences haven’t brought him football happiness, so he was looking to play regular football, he wanted to smile again, he wanted to feel an important part of the team and we could give him that stage and that platform.
“He’s got many similarities to Jordan in terms of leadership, professionalism. He’s a winner, a different type to Jordan in terms of style, but they complement each other very well and I’ve seen that firsthand being a Liverpool fan for many years.
“We’re looking for that combination, we’re looking for that leadership and we’re looking for them to play those key roles in terms of presence and contribution on the pitch.
“Bringing the likes of Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum, Moussa Dembele and Jack Hendry, it was important they were the right characters. The right people to also support us and give us a good core strength in the dressing room.”
