Steven Gerrard Named Manager of Al-Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League
After rejecting offers from the club last month, Steven Gerrard has accepted the position as head coach for Saudi Pro League team Al-Ettifaq.
Al-Ettifaq contacted Gerrard more than a month ago after inviting him to visit the nation to review their offer. He informed the reporters, nevertheless, that he was not yet prepared to join them after investigating and analyzing the offer. “I was invited over there to look at a potential offer, which I did,” Gerrard said. The last several days have been spent in analysis of it. But as things are, I won’t be accepting that offer.
Delegates from Al-Ettifaq recently traveled to England to restart negotiations and convince Gerrard. The Saudi Pro League team formally named the former Rangers manager and ex-Liverpool player as their new coach on Monday after hiring the 43-year-old to a two-year contract. It seems that they were successful.
“The location of legends. Steven Gerrard will serve as our new head coach, we’re happy to announce,” Al-Ettifaq announced on Twitter.
The agreement, according to club president Khalid Al-Dabal, was one of the most well-known and significant in the Saudi Pro League.
Before moving on to Aston Villa, where he was fired in October of last year, Gerrard led Rangers to their first Scottish championship in ten years in 2021. The former England international, who is starting his third career in management, will have a fresh challenge with this position.
Along with Gerrard, Al-Ettifaq also hired Eelco Schattorie, a former head coach of EBFC, NEUFC, and KBFC, as their new Sporting Director.
The Saudi Pro League team from Dammam finished in seventh place last season, 35 points behind champion Al-Ittihad. The emphasis is now on Gerrard to bring in players of the same caliber to the club to challenge for the championship this coming season after the defending champions signed players like Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, and Kalidou Koulibaly.
According to rumors, Gerrard is looking to improve the Al-Ettifaq team by signing players like Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho.
