The emergence of Saudi Arabia as a plausible destination for some of the most high-profile names in football has been underlined by not one but two modern-day Liverpool legends being linked with possible moves to the Middle Eastern state.
As reported by the Daily Mail on Monday afternoon, Steven Gerrard is reportedly set to be appointed as the new manager of Al-Ettifaq in what would be his first job as a coach since being sacked by Aston Villa eight months ago.
Meanwhile, according to The Guardian, multiple Saudi Arabian clubs are targeting a possible free transfer swoop for Bobby Firmino, who departed Anfield at the end of the season upon the expiry of his contract on Merseyside.
The same report mentioned Luka Modric, Riyad Mahrez, Wilfried Zaha and Hugo Lloris as other players being linked with potential moves to the country.
Following on from Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr a few months ago, and Karim Benzema’s recent decision to join Al-Ittihad, to now see a player of Firmino’s stature being linked with a Saudi Arabia switch shows the nation’s ever-growing ability to attract star names.
The Guardian‘s report didn’t explicitly mention any particular clubs showing an interest in the Brazilian, so it’s not unthinkable that one of those could be Al-Ettifaq if Gerrard takes the reins there, even if his and the 31-year-old’s respective Liverpool careers never overlapped.
It’s worth noting that the Reds’ former number nine is also believed to be of interest to Real Madrid, according to Fabrizio Romano for CaughtOffside, so it seems he still has some high-profile admirers from within Europe as well.
From a purely footballing perspective, you’d imagine that Firmino would rather team up with the 14-time champions of Europe given their unparalleled prestige, instead of simply following the money to Saudi Arabia.
Nevertheless, the decision as to his next club rests solely with him, and hopefully his career will continue to flourish wherever he goes after leaving Liverpool, where he’s firmly acquired legend status.