Rangers manager Steven Gerrard is set to take over at Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia – where he could come up against Celtic winger Jota at Al-Ittihad in the country’s Pro League.
The Athletic are now reporting that ex-Rangers boss Steven Gerrard should now take over at Al-Ettifaq, becoming the latest big name to move to the Middle East this summer.
Cristiano Ronaldo helped kick off the trend of football’s biggest names moving to Saudi Arabia and he’s since been followed by Karim Benzema, n’Golo Kante, Ruben Neves and now Steven Gerrard.
Having managed at Rangers between 2018 and the November of 2021, Steven Gerrard didn’t last a year in his Premier League role with Aston Villa and has been on the hunt for the right job ever since, appearing to now find it in Saudi Arabia.
Now, after claiming he in part left Rangers to be closer to his family in Liverpool, the man who delivered 55 is set to move to Dammam in the Middle East, which is a substantially further distance from Merseyside than Glasgow.
Steven Gerrard to face Jota in Saudi Arabia?
The links between Gerrard and Saudi Arabia also come whilst Rangers’ Old Firm rivals Celtic are in negotiations with a Pro League club over Portuguese winger Jota.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Celtic are set to negotiate an eye-watering €30m (£25m) transfer which will act as a double-edged sword to watching Rangers supporters.
Celtic might be about to lose one of their key players in Jota to Saudi Arabia but the move represents a potentially substantial boost to the Parkhead side’s bank balance.
Nonetheless, the winger is being linked with a move to Al-Ittihad and a link up with Portuguese coach Nuno Santos, meaning that Jota could be playing with Karim Benzema and n’Golo Kante next season.
On top of that, former Rangers boss Steven Gerrard could be about to come up against the Parkhead winger as he himself prepares a switch to Saudi Arabia that no-one saw coming back in 2021.
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