Steven Gerrard gave his first words at Al-Ittifaq boss on Sunday - with the former Rangers boss detailing various main reasons for wanting to join the Saudi Arabian club.
The Liverpool legend took his first steps into management with the Gers after finding his feet in the Liverpool youth set-up, and brought the club back to previous glories with an invincible Scottish Premiership title, alongside bringing the club to a decent level in European competition. He set sail for Aston Villa, but a torrid start to last season saw him booted in October.
But he's now landed back in the management game in the Middle East, Gerrard cannot wait for the task ahead - citing the 'good people' who represent the club as one of the main reasons for his switch.
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Gerrard said: "I think there were a lot of reasons for me wanting to join the club.
"I think the club has a lot of good people who represent the club from the board down. When I went down to Saudi I got a real family feel, they made me feel extremely welcome. There are three things that I always consider and they are in a particular order.
"It needs to be right for my family first and foremost, we have to be excited and motivated by the challenge. I think the football project needs to be ambitious, it needs to be for the right reasons in terms of the challenge and the remit.
"And of course you need to feel secure, that the contract is right, but that always comes at the very end. It was a combination of reasons and I'm extremely excited and happy. I can't wait to start and meet all the supporters and all the players. But the people I have met so far that represent Al-Ettifaq have been absolutely outstanding and I think we share a lot of things in common.
"I think the league will continue to grow and evolve I think with fantastic support from the government and ministers and all the clubs throughout the Saudi Pro League, all the supporters, the players, everyone that is involved.
"We all have an ambition to continue to grow and evolve and make it one of the best leagues in the world. I think the club already has an outstanding culture, it already has fantastic support, it has a really important president - we are about to change to a new president - but the board are all aligned, they are all ambitious, very good people who give a lot of time and effort into the club so I want to be part of that culture.
"I want to bring my own standards to try and help and improve from the playing side, I am really looking forward to building relationships with the people above me and hopefully together we can be the support that the team needs to grow, get better and move up the table."
