Steven Gerrard reveals real reason he joined Al-Ettifaq

Steven Gerrard ditching the English league for the Saudi Pro League didn’t sit right with quite a lot of his critics, specifically when it has to do with the negative spotlight given to the competition the Saudi League is proving to be on the transfer front.

However, Steven Gerrard choosing to move to Al-Ettifaq may just be a case of a butterfly effect caused by being rejected by 2 English clubs who are presumed to be in the League’s second division.

According to the Al-Ettifaq manager, he was snubbed by 2 Championship clubs before the opportunity to manage in Saudi Arabia came up in the summer for the former Liverpool captain.

The former Aston Villa boss stated this after a 2-1 victory against Al-Nassr on Monday, a game that noticeably had football icon, Cristiano Ronaldo absent through injury.

The clubs that Gerrard alleges had snubbed him are believed to be Leicester City and Leeds United who were recently relegated from the Premier League on the final match day of the 2022/23 season.

“I was in for two Championship jobs. I’m not afraid to say that, I never got them jobs.

“And I didn’t want to stay out of the game much longer and this was the best thing on the table at the time,” Steven Gerrard said.