‘Legend’ Steven Gerrard, former Aston Villa manager, also could not overcome the temptation of oil money.토토사이트
Saudi Arabia’s Al Itifak announced on the 4th (Korean time) through the club’s official channel that ‘Gerrard has been appointed as a new manager’. His contract is for two years, until 2025. The contract was conducted at a hotel in London, England. Director Gerrard signed the contract with a bright expression along with Chairman Khaled Al Dabal. “Gerrard is the first English manager in the Saudi league. Gerrard’s joining will undoubtedly bring a quantum leap to our league,” Aldabal said. did.
Saudi Arabia appears to be establishing itself as the new Eldorado of world soccer. It started with Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo, who was kicked out of Manchester United, wore an Al Nasr shirt last January, shocking the world. It was a huge deal with an annual salary of 200 million euros alone. Following Benzema wearing an Al Ittihad uniform, Sergio Ramos, Hugo Lloris, Luka Modric, Roberto Lewandowski, and Pierre Emeric Aubameyang are also preparing or considering a transfer after receiving an offer from Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia, which is challenging to host the 2030 World Cup, is focusing on ‘growing football’ by winning the right to host the 2023 Club World Cup following the 2027 Asian Cup. Saudi Arabia took over Newcastle United of the English Premier League with the Saudi National Wealth Fund (PIF), and is embracing stars. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, dubbed ‘Mr. Everything’, wants to raise his international status around sports.
Saudi Arabia has recently focused the world’s attention on the signing of Lionel Messi. He offered an astronomical annual salary of 400 million euros for Messi. Messi eventually chose to go to Inter Miami in the United States after much thought. There are voices of criticism called ‘sports washing’ to wash away the image of a country that oppresses human rights, but it doesn’t seem easy to go against Saudi Arabia’s astronomical ‘oil money’. PIF, which already has Crown Prince Salman at its peak, plans to exert direct influence on player recruitment by holding 75% of shares in Al Nasr, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad and Al Ahli. This gives us the opportunity to make more investments in the future.
Although not part of a sovereign wealth fund, Al Itifaq, like other Saudi clubs, are looking to make a big deal this summer. Appointment of director Gerrard is the beginning. Al Itipak finished 7th out of 16 teams in the league last season.
Coach Gerrard is undoubtedly a legendary player. He played only for Liverpool, England, for 17 years from 1998 to 2015. Although he did not win the league title, he won the European Champions League, League Cup and FA Cup. He showed off his strong influence by going back and forth between attack and defense. His powerful mid-range shot is his trademark. In particular, his leadership was excellent, and he did not miss the captain’s armband. He scored 120 goals-92 assists in 504 matches in his English Premier League (EPL) career.
Coach Gerard, who ended his career as a player after spending two seasons at the LA Galaxy of the US Major League Soccer, walked the path of a leader. Having coached the Liverpool Under-18s (U-18) team since 2017, he took over as manager of Rangers in Scotland in 2018. It was successful. In the 2020-2021 season, he was recognized for his leadership by leading the Rangers to an undefeated league championship. It was a historic victory that changed the course of Rangers, who had been behind Celtic for 10 years.
EPL clubs’ love calls continued for coach Gerard, who confirmed his ability, and in November 2021, he took the baton of Aston Villa in crisis. Aston Villa empowered manager Gerrard by signing Philippe Coutinho. Coach Gerrard received favorable reviews after changing the team in the early days of his appointment, but fell into a swamp of sluggishness last season. He was eventually fired for poor grades. After waiting for a call from Europe, coach Gerard decided to leave Europe. He took on a new challenge in the Middle East.