Coach Gerrard confirms rejection of attractive offer from Saudi Arabia

According to ESPN , on June 16, the Saudi Pro League team Al Ettifaq sent an invitation to coach Gerrard to work in Saudi Arabia. In the contract that this team offered, they committed to paying the former Aston Villa coach 11 million euros per season. At the same time, the star who had a close relationship with coach Gerrard when he played at Liverpool, Coutinho, will also be recruited to play in Saudi Arabia.

The English coach was initially convinced by the plans that Al Ettifaq had put forward. However, after many days of thinking, he decided to reject this offer. Coach Gerrard shared: "There are many rumors circulating in the media and most of them are not true. I was invited to see a potential offer and have been analyzing it for the past few days. Initially, I was quite excited but in the end, at this time, I will not accept the offer."

HLV Gerrard xác nhận từ chối lời đề nghị hấp dẫn từ Ả Rập Xê Út - Ảnh 1. — Coach Gerrard and Al Ettifaq Club failed to find common ground during negotiations.

Since being sacked by Aston Villa in the middle of the 2022-2023 season, coach Gerrard has been unemployed despite being repeatedly linked with ambitious European clubs. Most recently, the coach born in 1980 has been linked with the recently relegated Premier League duo Leeds United and Southampton. However, the Liverpool legend has yet to comment on the interest from the two teams.

Saudi Arabian clubs are showing their ambition in the summer of 2023 by continuously luring big-name European stars to play in the Saudi Pro League. Most notably, the FIFA Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema joined Saudi Pro League champions Al Ittihad from Real Madrid in early June 2023. According to ESPN , they have not stopped yet as the club is interested in signing Tottenham winger Son Heung-min and has made an initial offer of €60 million.