Player who Liverpool sold for £12m this summer is now playing in front of less than 1000 people

Jordan Henderson is having to get used to playing in-front of crowds that aren’t exactly Anfield-esque right now.

Having spent the past 12 years at Liverpool, Henderson had become well-used to turning out with tens of thousands watching him week after week.

But according to The Daily Mail, those days are now a far-cry for the 33-year-old. Having swapped the prestige of Liverpool for the riches on offer in Saudi Arabia in a £12m move, Henderson is facing the consequences of his decision.

Jordan Henderson
Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images
Incredibly, it’s claimed that the England international recently played for a crowd of just 976 people for Al Ettifaq.

By contrast, even with the Anfield Road stand under construction and not fully open, Liverpool packed just shy of 50,000 in for last week’s Carabao Cup tie with Leicester City.

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Henderson getting used to new normal
There will be some Liverpool fans who will be keen to go easy on Henderson. But after his recent claims that his move to Saudi had nothing to do with money, and everything to do with ‘growing the league,’ we’re not in that camp.

Of course, the Reds legend wouldn’t have expected the crowds to be anything like Premier League size in the nascent super league.

But perhaps Henderson underestimated just how big a jump it was set to be for him.

Jordan Henderson
Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images
There is some clarity required in the Mail’s piece from today, though. While they claim that the 976 crowd was present for Henderson’s most recent game for Al Ettifaq, that appears not to have been the case.

Steven Gerrard’s team actually played last night, losing 2-1 at home to Al Fateh FC, with 9,827 in attendance [Fotmob].

Instead, the embarrassing 976 figure is actually from a game Al Ettifaq played on September 16th. As per Fotmob, there were less than 1,00 people present to watch Gerrard, Henderson and co beat Abha.

This is what Jordan may have to get used to every now and then in the Saudi Pro League. He could have still been playing in the very best stadiums and crowds in the world, but he chose to throw that all away.