10th June, 2021
Georginio Wijnaldum has agreed on a deal to join Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in spite of looking poised to link up with FC Barcelona for several months.
The Netherlands international has signed a three-year contract at the Parc des Princes, the club said on Thursday, with reports saying his salary has been increased dramatically by the Parisians.
Wijnaldum joined Liverpool from Newcastle United in 2016 and quickly established himself as a key man for the Reds.
He only failed to appear in 11 English Premier League (EPL) matches over that five-year spell.
Liverpool had tried to keep the 30-year-old but he acknowledged in May that the two parties had been unable to agree on a new contract.
It had seemed he would subsequently turn up at FC Barcelona, with transfer links between the two emergings as early as 2020 when Ronald Koeman replaced Quique Setien in August.
He was expected to be Barca’s third free transfer of the close season after Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia, with Memphis Depay expected to follow.
Delay had, like Wijnaldum, played under Koeman for the Oranje.
PSG have pulled off something of a coup, luring Wijnaldum to Paris as the club’s patchy relationship with Barca is thrust into the spotlight again.
Wijnaldum bolsters PSG’s central midfield options that already include Idrissa Gueye, Leandro Paredes, Ander Herrera, Danilo Pereira and Marco Verratti.
dpa/NAN