Jordan Henderson’s decision to leave Liverpool for Saudi Arabia appears to have shocked his former team-mate Sadio Mane.
Henderson, 33, left the Reds last month to join Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq, where he would earn £700,000 a week.
Mane, meanwhile, left Bayern for Al-Nassr after a challenging year in Germany, when he scored 12 goals and provided six assists in 38 appearances.
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Henderson now plays for Al-Ettifaq, while Mane signed for Al-Nassr
Mane’s path crossed with Henderson’s at a launch party for the Saudi Pro League, which kicks off on Monday when Al-Ettifaq host Al-Nassr. Their interaction was shared on social media by the league and it showed just how surprising the turn of events which has brought them to the Middle East is.
The two former Liverpool heroes shared a hug before Mane looked Henderson up and down and said simply: “I can’t believe it.” They then embraced for a second time before exchanging pleasantries by asking how each other were.
Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane shared a hug
Mane and Henderson will face battle on Monday in a match that will be broadcast worldwide. The Saudi Pro League and DAZN have reportedly signed a UK TV agreement that will see every game in the young league broadcast live, according to Mirror Football.
Gerrard has appointed Henderson as the team’s captain for Dammam, a seaside city near to Bahrain. In addition to his relocation to Saudi Arabia, Fabinho was also sold by Liverpool to Al-Ittihad for £40 million.
“Was I surprised when Henderson said he wanted to move on? Of course,” Klopp said.
“We had a relationship for eight years. He knew the situation that we wanted to keep him but if he wanted to leave we weren’t going to throw rocks and stones in the way. It was about reacting to it.”
Ex-Premier League star Thomas Hitzlsperger hit out the midfielder on social media, writing: “So Jordan Henderson finally gets his move to Saudi. Fair play to him, he can play wherever he wants to play. Curious to know though how the new brand JH will look like. The old one is dead! I did believe for a while that his support for the LGBTQ community would be genuine. Silly me…”