OPINION
Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum must perform above and beyond in the games that remain this season to ensure he has a future at Anfield.
The spotlight will now firmly be on the 27-year-old central midfielder as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is likely to miss the rest of the season through injury.
The former Arsenal midfielder was stretched off in the 18th minute of the Reds’ 5-2 victory over AS Roma on Tuesday after appearing to suffer a knee injury.
Directly following Tuesday’s game, journalist James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo took to his personal Twitter account to report on the midfielder’s suspected knee injury.
Oxlade-Chamberlain's injury the sour note for #LFC tonight. Initial fears are that he will miss the rest of the season and the World Cup.
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) April 24, 2018
The reliable journalist claimed that initial fears regarding the injury suggested that Oxlade-Chamberlain could miss the rest of the season as well as this summer’s World Cup.
Jurgen Klopp also used his post-match conference following his side’s victory against Roma at Anfield to provide a worrying update on the midfielder’s injury.
“We don’t know exactly but if the medical department are quite concerned without a scan, you can imagine it’s difficult,” stated Klopp, as quoted by Sky Sports.
“We lost a fantastic player tonight, it’s not good news.”
While Wijnaldum will be disappointed to see his teammate’s season cut short, he knows that he now has a golden opportunity to grab the headlines, as he won’t be in Oxlade-Chamberlain’s shadow.
The 27-year-old may have regularly feature for Jurgen Klopp’s side this season, making 45 appearances, but he has hardly put in performances that suggests he should be kept around the club.
The Reds should be aiming to be serious title contenders next season and have to be firing on all cylinders to achieve that goal, something Wijnaldum has never done for the club.
In fact Oxlade-Chamberlain has had a greater impact at Anfield since arriving in the summer, despite Wijnaldum being at the club for a year longer than the 24-year-old.
Klopp won’t hesitate to bin the Dutch international in the summer window, even if he is contracted until 2021, in order to fund the pursuit of players capable of winning silverware at the club.
Therefore Wijnaldum must start pulling up trees with his displays in the games that remain especially as the spotlight will be on him with Oxlade-Chamberlain reportedly out injured.