Giorgino Wijnaldum is under a contract of less than six months but so far has seen no signs of a contract extension with Liverpool, in addition to some rumours of his move to Barcelona. Despite the recent concern about the shortage of personnel at centre-back, Jurgen Klopp is not even immune to any healthy centre-back; it is important to know what the impact of losing the most trusted player in midfield will be, and whether the Reds are doing their best to keep Wijnaldum, and if not, why?
In November 2020, Klopp was asked by a reporter about Wijnaldum's future at Anfield, saying: "He's always in good form, to be honest, I don't remember how many poor games he played. He played a lot of positions for us and all was good, thank God. Hopefully all this continues. I don't know how many games he's played since I came, and I have nothing else to say but good. ”
He has played a total of 215 games since Wijnaldum joined Liverpool, during which time he is the most playing player outside of Roberto Firmino and the most consistent midfielder in five seasons. His incredible consistency is very important for Liverpool, especially now that he has never been injured.
Now that his contract is in its final stages, he is free to negotiate with clubs outside the Premier League. If he leaves Liverpool, he has not made up his desire to play for Barcelona, and former Dutch national team coach Ronald Koeman is also very keen to reunite with him in La Liga.
But after "500 talks" with Klopp, Wijnaldum claimed he was still on Liverpool's pitch and insisted that "it should be the club providing an update on contract negotiations", which shows that he himself does not have a strong desire to leave the team, instead he will leave as late as possible, hoping that he can still give the team the help he wants.
We've seen a lot of players say and what they do on the pitch when they want to move to other clubs. While Wijnaldum may not be that kind of problem player, judging by his performances on the pitch and the remarks he has made off the pitch, he is not a player in a hurry to transfer, but a player who constantly strives to prove his worth. He also showed obvious admiration for his coach, although the conditions set by the club may not have met his requirements.
Liverpool's most recent offer for a new contract was reportedly in December 2020, and it is widely believed that Wijnaldum turned down the contract because of money problems, but there are also reasons for unclear future development purposes.
The latter presumably refers to whether the team wants to invest and, if so, in what direction? But much will depend on Wijnaldum's decision. If he were to leave, Liverpool would definitely have to sign a player who could fill the void, with liverpool's reported potential targets being Yves Bissoma at Brighton and Renato Sanchez in Lille in Ligue 1. But if Wijnaldum decides to stay, there is no need for that, and the money saved can be used to strengthen the rest of the team's position.
Of course, we don't know anything about the specifics of the contract he rejected, but he is justified in asking for a salary increase on the current 75,000 weekly salary, first of all, which will save Liverpool the transfer fee for buying replacement players, and the replacement players may also ask for the same high salary.
Bisoma, 24, and Sanchez, 23, have a much longer future than Wijnaldum, 30. But that's about it, and Wijnaldum, who is only 30 years old, has managed to prove himself to be the most reliable of a group of unreliable midfielders at Liverpool.
Thiago Alcantara struggled in his first season at Liverpool and his style is completely different from that of Wijnaldum; Curtis Jones is smart but inexperienced; Alex Oxlad-Chamberlain's injury means he can't be a reliable player, and the longer Naby Keita spends at Liverpool, the more doubtful it becomes that he will never really rise.
In this way, losing Wijnaldum is an unnecessary risk for Liverpool. While it's possible to find a new great midfielder, why take the risk of finding new hope when you already have a perfect player? Therefore, in the difficult moments facing the team (injuries, as well as recessions, etc.) Liverpool should do everything they can to keep Wijnaldum, otherwise, they will regret it in the future.
That's what Zorro brings to you about Giorginho Wijnaldum. Welcome to discuss. If there are any errors in the text, please do not hesitate to teach, I am very grateful.