The chance to earn a reported £600,000 a week proves too much for the player to resist, despite campaigners urging him to stay true to his public support of inclusion.

Jordan Henderson was seen as an LGBT+ ally when speaking out on injustices and advocating inclusion as Liverpool captain wearing a rainbow armband.

“I do believe when you see something that is clearly wrong and makes another human being feel excluded you should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them,” the Premier League and Champions League winner wrote in Liverpool match day programme notes in 2021.

It’s a stance that seems conflicted to Liverpool LGBT+ fans’ group Kop Outs as it urged him not to move to Saudi Arabia, saying they were appalled by the planned transfer.

“He was portraying himself as aligned with respect for women and LGBT+ rights,” said Kop Outs founder Paul Amann.

"That has been severely tarnished by looking to jump ship to a regime that has none of those values at its core.