It has been a great couple of days to be a Liverpool fan with the likes of Thiago Alcantara and Diogo Jota coming through the door, and it might be about to get a whole lot better for us.
What’s happened?
The future of Georginio Wijnaldum has been up in the air for a long time now. His four-year stay at Anfield has been a successful one, having played a big part in helping us win the Premier League, Champions League and Club World Cup during that timeframe. A much-loved figure by Jurgen Klopp who previously described him as “perfect”.
This made it all the more perplexing as to why the club would be open to selling such as a highly-regarded individual, especially with the versatile skill set that he possesses.
But with Ronald Koeman taking over as Barcelona manager recently, this changed everything as the Dutchman’s head looked to turn to his compatriot in Spain.
With this in mind, there could be a hitch in the deal which would prevent the Catalan giants in making their move this summer.
According to the Mirror, La Liga rules are preventing Barcelona from trying to capture Wijnaldum because of the club’s critical financial situation.
Due to the temporary suspension of the 2019/20 campaign, this has hit Spain more severely than other countries in Europe. With Barca already spending millions on the likes of Frenkie de Jong, Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann in recent years, this has compiled their woes.
The report adds that restrictions were put in place and their wage bill of £510m-a-year has been class as unsustainable, which means they will have to sell players before they can accept incoming players.
Undervalued talent
For me, Wijnaldum is one of our most underappreciated players at Anfield. Yes, he could get more goals and provide plenty more assists but his work off the ball and his tracking back provide us with plenty of protection.
The 61-cap international was a key influencer in helping us capture our sixth European crown, especially with his two goals against Barcelona having come off the bench in the second half.
Having signed from relegated Newcastle for £25m at the time, Klopp has worked miracles with Wijnaldum to merge him into the player that he is today and it would be a sad day when he does decide to leave.
This bolsters our hopes that we will retain his services going into the final year of his contract, making the defence of our Premier League crown much rosier going forward.