Steven Gerrard, club icon of Liverpool FC, is the new coach at the Saudi Arabian first division soccer team Al-Ettifaq.
The Pro League club announced this on Monday via Twitter. Most recently, the 43-year-old coached Aston Villa in the English Premier League until he was sacked there in October 2022.
After former Tottenham Hotspur coach Nuno Espirito Santo and ex-Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, Gerrard is now the third prominent coaching name to follow the call of money into the desert.
The 114-time England international, who won the Scottish Championship as a coach with Glasgow Rangers in 2021, had previously reported having already turned down an offer from the Gulf state. Now he was convinced.
Shortly before Gerrard’s commitment to Al-Ettifaq, the next transfer of a top European player to Saudi Arabia had become known with the move of Marcelo Brozovic.
The Croatian international leaves the Italian Champions League finalists Inter Milan and joins Al-Nassr, the team around superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, for three years.