Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has completed his move to Al-Ettifaq.
The 33-year-old posted a farewell message to Reds fans on Wednesday, ending a 12-year stay at the club during which he won every major trophy.
Liverpool will receive an initial €14 million from the Saudi Pro League Club.
Henderson was seen training with his new team-mates at a camp in Croatia in a fan video posted on social media which was hastily deleted.
"It's hard to put these last 12 years into words and it’s even harder to say goodbye. I will always be a Red. Until the day I die," he posted on Instagram.
"Thank you for everything. You’ll never walk alone."
He added in a video accompanying his post: "Being made the captain of Liverpool Football Club was one the greatest honours of my life.
"From the day the armband was passed to me I did everything I could to behave like a Liverpool captain should.
"Thank you for allowing me to be part of your club, thank you for your support in good time and bad."
Henderson’s move to the Middle East – where he will be reunited with former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard as manager – has been in the pipeline for several weeks.
The decision to move to Saudi Arabia has come in for criticism after his staunch support for the LGBT+ community and Rainbow Laces Premier League initiative.
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.
"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."
Liverpool’s own LGBT+ fans group Kop Outs were even more damning, saying: "Given choices he has recently made, Kop Outs doubt & question if Henderson was ever an actual ally."
