Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson insists he cannot wait to get started on a new challenge after completing a controversial move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq. The 33-year-old brought to an end a 12-year stay at Anfield in which he won every major trophy by finalising a three-year deal with reported wages of up to £700,000 a week. Henderson, who posted a farewell message to Reds fans on Wednesday, took to Instagram again after his signing was confirmed. “Delighted to announce I’ve signed for @ettifaq. New challenge ahead, can’t wait to get going. Welcome to Saudi Arabia,” he wrote. Liverpool are due to receive an initial £12million for the England international, who will be reunited with his former team-mate Steven Gerrard who is manager at the Saudi Pro League club. “There is no doubt that Henderson is a distinguished addition,” said Al-Ettifaq vice-president Professor Hatem Al-Mishal. “We completed the deal after the recommendation of sports director Elko Chatori and the technical staff led by English coach Steven Gerrard, who accompanied him as a player and knows his capabilities.” Henderson was seen training with his new team-mates at a camp in Croatia in a fan video posted on social media, which will have caused Liverpool some embarrassment even though it was hastily deleted. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp paid tribute to his departing captain. “I know it was a really, really tough decision for Hendo and I was around or with him all the way,” he told the club’s website. “It’s sad, absolutely strange, because he is the only captain I had here at Liverpool, but I think it is exciting for him as well. “We will miss him, without a shadow of a doubt, that’s clear – as a man and as a player. But, as I said, that’s football.” However, Henderson’s move had attracted criticism due to his long-time support of LGBT+ issues and the Premier League’s Rainbow Laces campaign. Homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, while the state stands accused of a host of other abuses including placing harsh restrictions on women’s rights and the right to political protest. Al-Ettifaq’s video montage to announce Henderson’s arrival mixes colour and black and white footage but in the majority of the images the captain’s armband he is wearing – including both the LGBT+ rainbow and UEFA’s No to Racism – is greyed out. “Jordan Henderson is of course free to play for whoever he chooses, but we would urge him to examine Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and be prepared to speak out about human rights violations in the country,” Amnesty’s UK economic affairs director Peter Frankental told the PA news agency last week. Pride in Football, a network of LGBT+ fan groups, said in a statement: “When you see someone who has been an ally so publicly transfer to a club in a country where LGBT+ people are attacked and imprisoned, it is disappointing. “Good luck in Saudi Arabia Jordan, but you have lost the respect of so many people who valued you and trusted you.” Henderson joins a growing list of players moving to Saudi Arabia. However, one player who will not be heading to the Middle East is Paris St Germain’s Kylian Mbappe, who reportedly refused to meet Al-Hilal officials in Paris on Wednesday after his club accepted what would be a world-record transfer fee of £259million. PSG believe Mbappe, who has 12 months left on his contract, has already agreed a free transfer to Real Madrid but their willingness to listen to offers for the 24-year-old has led to speculation linking him to the Premier League. However, the financial implications of such a move would be beyond almost all the clubs in the top flight. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Today at the World Cup: Australia rocked by Nigeria as Portugal earn first win Today is a sad day for me – David Silva waves goodbye to football Manchester United confident of signing striker as Rasmus Hojlund talks continue

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England star Georgia Stanway insists the resignation of Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales has to be “the start of something, not the end of something”. Rubiales finally announced he was quitting as president of the RFEF on Sunday night, three weeks after he kissed Spain midfielder Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the World Cup final trophy presentation in Sydney. Hermoso later said she had not consented to the kiss, but Rubiales has spent the last three weeks standing firm in saying he would not quit over the incident despite the opening of disciplinary proceedings by football’s world governing body FIFA and the instigation of a criminal complaint in the Spanish courts. Stanway was part of the England team beaten by Hermoso and her team-mates in Sydney, and hopes the controversy over how this matter has been handled has a wider impact than just being the eventual trigger for Rubiales’ exit. “Everybody’s fought and we fought as a women’s football group,” Stanway said. “We fought as players, we’ve fought as staff, we’ve fought as journalists for the outcome to be what it is. “Obviously, the outcome is what we want. But at the same time, we want this to be the start of something, rather than the end of something. “We want to continue to be able to have these conversations, to feel comfortable to have these conversations, feel comfortable in your workplace, to be able to stand up for whatever you think is right.” Rubiales had told an RFEF emergency general assembly on August 25 that he would not quit his post, but was provisionally suspended by FIFA the following day pending an investigation into his conduct. As well as kissing Hermoso, Rubiales was also pictured grabbing his groin in celebration of the World Cup win while standing metres from Spain’s Queen Letizia and her teenage daughter. Rubiales posted on the social media platform X on Sunday night: “After the rapid suspension carried out by FIFA, plus the rest of proceedings open against me, it is evident that I will not be able to return to my position. “Insisting on waiting and holding on is not going to contribute to anything positive, neither to the federation nor to Spanish football. “I have faith in the truth and I will do everything in my power to prevail. “My daughters, my family and the people who love me have suffered the effects of excessive persecution, as well as many falsehoods, but it is also true that on the street, more and more every day, the truth is prevailing.” Rubiales has also done an interview with chat show host Piers Morgan concerning the matter, which is due to air on Tuesday evening. There has been no public statement yet from Hermoso, nor from the rest of the Spain squad who had said they would not represent their country while Rubiales remained in post. Spain are due to play Sweden and Switzerland in the Nations League on September 22 and 26. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live I genuinely believe Great Britain can win Davis Cup – Andy Murray ‘Genius’ Novak Djokovic is ‘one of a kind’, says his coach Goran Ivanisevic ‘It was absolutely brutal’ – Louis Rees-Zammit relieved after Wales’ opening win

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As a kid, watching the Harry Potter scenes in the Great Hall with mountains of food and the odd ghost flying around, it was pretty much everyone’s dream to star in the films. Now, one woman has opened up about her experience as a teenage extra and revealed what it was like to be the butt of a cruel Ron Weasley joke. Samantha Clinch played the minor character Eloise Midgen in the films after being selected for the role one day on the set. To play Midgen, she was required to wear prosthetic acne for the two years she played her. In the 2005 film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the character of Midgen faces some cruel mocking from Weasley, played by the actor Rupert Grint, as he jokes: “There’s something about to burst out of Eloise Midgen but I don’t think it’s a swan…” One TikToker asked Clinch specifically about that moment, saying that the harsh joke would have made them “cry for months”. Clinch replied: “How did I feel? I felt incredible!” @samanthaclinch Replying to @Sultan Jalebithe good the bad and how to stay kind.#eloisemidgen #gobletoffire #ronweasley #skinjourney #acne #prosthetics #prostheticmakeup #harrypotter #harrypottertiktok #harrypottertok #fyp #bullyingawareness She continued: “I was an extra one minute and then I was thrust into a trailer the next. It really was nothing quite like it, being chosen to play an incredibly iconic character and then getting to meet every single one of the main cast. “It was unreal, I had my own make-up artist who followed me around with the Carmex [lip balm]. And I had a part to play. Let’s not forget, this is a character.” Clinch explained that it fulfilled a lifelong dream of hers to be a professional actress. She continued: “I was being a professional actress. I had a line, I had a dancing scene ... I fulfilled my life goal of being a professional actress, and it happened to be in one of the biggest films in the world.” However, not everything was all rosy as Clinch continued, explaining that the other kids on set could be really mean to her because of the prosthetic acne she wore. “Kids were so mean. I remember walking from my classroom trailer … people would whisper about me. People would actively move out of the way of me as I would walk past. Kids would be laughing,” she said. It comes just days after the death of the actor Michael Gambon who famously starred as Professor Dumbledore in the film series. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continued his days-long visit to Russia Friday, heading to an aircraft plant in the eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, according to Russian state media, after the two sides said military cooperation was a possibility.