Gerrard is already in Arabia too! Liverpool legend to coach Al-Ettifaq

Steven Gerrard has a new coaching job. But his coaching career is not taking off as expected, instead of a prestigious job in Europe he is heading to Saudi Arabia.

When Gerrard ended his rich career at Liverpool, he started coaching the Reds youth, from where he received high praise.

So he later took over at Rangers FC, with whom he did brilliantly, holding an extremely long unbeaten streak, winning the Scottish league for the first time in ten years and reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

Liverpool fans saw him as Jürgen Klopp’s successor on the A-team bench, with some wanting to see him at Anfield Road immediately when the Reds’ form dropped.

That didn’t happen in the end, with Gerrard opting to take an interim step in the form of a loan deal at Aston Villa. But he completely burnt out on his return to the Premier League, finishing bottom of the table with the Villains and was recalled after less than a year in October 2022.

He has been waiting for another engagement ever since. And it would come, just a little differently than Gerrard would have hoped. It’s not in Europe, but in the currently hugely popular Saudi Arabia.

The Middle Eastern country has decided to really lean into the arrival of stars after the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo. It has already lured Karim Benzema, N’gol Kanté, Ruben Neves, Édouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly for huge paydays and wants more stars.

At the same time, the Saudis would like to attract European coaches to elevate local tactics. Thus, Steven Gerrard is one of the first big names to head to the bench in the Saudi Pro League.

The Liverpool legend will take over Al-Ettifaq, who finished seventh in the table last season.

Source: The Athletic, Fabrizio Romano