The reason why Steven Gerrard agreed to manage in Saudi Arabia

Liverpool legend and eternal captain Steven Gerrard became one of the biggest additions to the Saudi Pro League this summer when he agreed to manage Al-Ettifaq for next season, after denying rumors that he would be heading to Saudi Arabia.

Weeks before his appointment as Al-Ettifaq's new manager, Steven Gerrard had been looking for the possibility of returning to manage a club, as his last team had been Aston Villa in the Premier League, a team with which he did not do very well and from which he was dismissed at the end of 2022. In the face of this, interest from Al-Ettifaq to take him to the exotic Middle Eastern league finally convinced Gerrard.

However, many fans were surprised to see Steven Gerrard agree to head the Saudi club's project, as beyond the economic issue, it did not seem to be a team or a league very much in line with Stevie G's profile, who reportedly would have been happier to manage in the UK, but it seems that finally the reason why he decided to accept his new job has been known.

The reason

According to former Liverpool player and former teammate of Steven Gerrard, Ryan Babel, he said he was surprised to see Gerrard accept the offer from Al-Ettifaq but understands that perhaps the decision had to do with the lack of other managerial opportunities at the time. "In general, if you look especially at English managers, they tend to stay in England. At the end of the day we don't know if Steven Gerrard had a lot of possibilities at this very moment, but I feel like as a manager if you're out of the picture for too long maybe the door is slowly getting shut on you for these types of opportunities." he said.