Liverpool journalist James Pearce has been sharing his thoughts on the imminent departure of Reds midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.
This comes after Pearce made an appearance on a recent episode of The Athletic’s Liverpool-themed podcast, The Red Agenda, where he spoke about a range of topics concerning the Merseyside club.
On the subject of Wijnaldum, who made his final appearance for the Reds during their recent 2-0 win over Crystal Palace on the final day of the 2020/21 Premier League season, Pearce had this to say about his imminent exit from the club.
He said: “I think Liverpool may live to regret not trying to come to a compromise with him, because it did come down to both money and the length of the contract, and their policy is not to dish out lucrative extensions to someone over the age of 30; Wijnaldum will be 31 in November, but I just think he’s such a special footballer that he’d be worth making an exception for.”
Liverpool signed Wijnaldum back in the 2016 summer transfer window from fellow Premier League side Newcastle United for a fee of £24.75 million.
Since then, the 30-year-old, who is currently valued at £31.5 million, has gone on to make 237 appearances for the Reds across all competitions in which he has managed to score 22 goals and provide 16 assists along the way (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on James Pearce’s comments on Wijnaldum’s exit…
With Klopp giving a glowing assessment of the Dutchman after the Palace game, this shows just how much of a connection the pair have and how much admiration he has for the midfield man.
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Also, given how there were only three outfield players at Liverpool who played more minutes in the Premier League this season, this shows just how important and reliable he has been for Klopp as part of the Liverpool squad. This also suggests how critical this decision could turn out to be with regards to the Reds’ forthcoming campaign.
In our view, if Liverpool want to avoid ending up regretting not coming to an agreement with Wijnaldum in terms of offering him a suitable new deal, they will need to make sure they sign another central midfielder during the upcoming summer transfer window that can fill the void the Dutchman is set to create.
In other news: James Pearce tips player for ‘great’ move away from Liverpool