Georginio Wijnaldum made the transfer-free transfer from Liverpool to Paris Saint-Germain in the past transfer period. For a long time, the the Dutch international seemed to be on his way to Barcelona, but PSG proved more decisive and brought him home. In the summer of 2014, PSG also showed interest in Wijnaldum, but at the time the then PSV player decided to stay in the Eredivisie for another year.
In an interview with L’Equipe confirms that Wijnaldum could have signed for PSG years ago. “Yes that is true. The first contacts were made in 2014, after the World Cup. PSG wanted me then, but I wanted to stay at PSV for another year to become champions before I left. I also wanted to stay with Memphis Depay. I had been injured a long time in the previous season and I felt guilty towards the supporters. I stayed and we became champions. After that, I was open to the idea of making a transfer. PSG came again, but at that time I didn’t feel they wanted me very much. I chose Newcastle United. That club really wanted me and showed it.”
In addition to Barcelona, there were other privateers on the coast this summer. “There were talks with Bayern Munich and I also spoke with Internazionale. They made a good impression on me,” said Wijnaldum, who discusses the failed deal with Barcelona. “A few months ago I wanted to stay at Liverpool. Without going into detail, I didn’t really get the feeling they wanted to keep me. In such cases you have to move forward. Barcelona then passed by. I was very happy about that because it has always been the club of my dreams, even though Zinedine Zidane was my idol, a Real Madrid player. I wanted to sign for Barcelona, but the negotiations took a long time and eventually PSG came. Unlike six years ago, the club now showed that they wanted me.”
Wijnaldum says he chose PSG because of the project that was presented to him. “And because I was told I was part of that. The management did everything they could to convince me. I spoke with Mauricio Pochettino and Leonardo. They assured me that they wanted to build one of the best teams in Europe,” said Wijnaldum, who has not been guaranteed a permanent starting place. “It’s up to me to become a key player for this team. Certain clubs can promise a lot, but if you’re not good enough, you don’t play. In a team like ours there is always competition, and that’s the way it should be. They didn’t promise me that I would be a key player, but they explained how I could become an essential part of the project with my experience and quality. That’s the conversation I had with Leonardo, the trainer and the president. They gave me time to think about it, but I agreed right away. I knew this would be good for me.”
Thirty-year-old Wijnaldum works in Paris with Pochettino, the trainer who tried to warm him up in 2016 for a switch from Newcastle United to Tottenham Hotspur. “At the time he indicated how he works, how he envisions the playing style and things like that. Because of that conversation, the conversation we had this summer was pretty short. He asked me if I was open to the offer from PSG, we talked about the project and what they wanted. I’ve been transparent about that. I said that I was also in talks with Barcelona, but that no agreement had been reached yet. If I had signed something, I would have kept that agreement. But that was not the case in my case,” said Wijnaldum.