Former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson was left exhausted by the Saudi heat on his Al-Ettifaq debut, according to multiple reports.
How much will Jordan Henderson earn in Saudi?
During the summer, the English midfielder made the controversial decision to leave Anfield and the Premier League and head to the Middle East.
The transfer – worth £12m plus add-ons – drew criticism from the LGBTQ+ community, however, as same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Saudi Arabia and yet the player has publicly claimed to be an ally in the past.
Despite that though, Henderson is now officially an Al-Ettifaq – earning a reported £700k-p/w – and even made his debut for the club this week as his new side beat Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.
Former Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane actually netted for the opposition after just four minutes, but Henderson and co fought back to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Robin Quaison and former Celtic man Moussa Dembele.
According to a report in The Guardian, though, the English debutant was absolutely exhausted after just 30 minutes of action in the 34.6C Saudi heat.
Paul MacInnes wrote: "Henderson was on his haunches. He had given everything. The former Liverpool captain, and new talisman for Al-Ettifaq, had pushed himself to the physical limits in the service of his team. It was the sort of moment that has previously served to build the Henderson legend, except with a small difference: his team were 1-0 down here and there was still an hour to play."
He added: "An important qualification should probably be made here: it was 34.6C in the stadium at this point and with a level of humidity high enough to hydrate a pack of instant noodles. It was surely, by far, the hottest football match Henderson had ever played in, but one recovery sprint, and a not entirely full-throttle one at that, had entirely done him in. And the England man was hardly alone."
This wasn't the only report to note the extreme weather, with Tom Kershaw of The Times also making sure to note the "gruelling humidity" that left Henderson's spirit "sapped to a despondent trudge" during a water break, with "his head bowed in resignation as he gulped for respite in the suffocating heat".
You can watch highlights of his debut via YouTube below.
What age is Jordan Henderson?
Now 33 years of age, perhaps it's not surprising that the former Liverpool star is struggling in such conditions – although it sounds like he would have found it tough going even at the peak of his powers.
After all, in the aforementioned report in The Guardian, Henderson's new manager and former teammate Steven Gerrard explained how "tough" it has been adapting to the heat.
“When I’m sitting in my house, and I have Sky News on, you see the weather in different countries around the world come up, but you don’t really appreciate that type of heat until you actually come and work in these conditions,” Gerrard said after the match.
“The climate has definitely been tough and challenging. So I’m going to have to adapt, and so are some of the signings we’ve made from Europe. We don’t want to leave our energy on the training pitch. There are things we have to change and … I’m facing the challenges, accepting them. I know what I’ve signed up for.”
It will certainly be interesting to see how all these new stars in the Saudi Pro League will get on. By the sounds of it, the biggest obstacle may well simply be the high temperatures.
