Wijnaldum outlines plan to leave LFC – but says he wants to play until he’s 38

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Gini Wijnaldum has confirmed that he wants to end his career in the Netherlands, back where it all began for the Champions League hero, but admits that he doesn’t plan on hanging up his boots any time soon.

The Liverpool man is yet to sign a new contract to keep him at Anfield – meaning he can leave next summer on a free transfer if that doesn’t change – but says it’s “unique” what he’s experiencing now, and that he wants to play at the highest level.

MORE: Wijnaldum contract situation explained by Maddock: Money not issue, but Gini’s age is…

Hopefully our No.5 stays with us well into his 30s, but if he wishes to return to his homeland then I hope he gets his wish. “In the future I see myself playing for Feyenoord, PSV or Sparta again,” Wijnaldum told Dutch publication Rijnmond (via GOAL).

Sometimes I look at Sparta (his first youth club) and think ‘it would be great to spend my last years as a professional there’. In the Netherlands I played for three clubs and still have a good feeling about all three of them. But you can only pick one.

I can’t promise anything though. I learn from other players too. [Ruud] Van Nistelrooy once promised to come back, but changed his mind over the years.

It’s unique what I’m experiencing right now. You want to play at the highest level and win trophies, like Clarence Seedorf. It’s my dream to play as long as possible. Like him, Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] or [Cristiano] Ronaldo. I want to play at a high level until I’m 38.

It’s interesting that he makes the Clarence Seedorf comparison, as some Liverpool fans have often spoken of similarities between the two of them. The biggest comparison being the engine that both of them possessed in their pomp.

Wijnaldum has a good few years ahead of him, but the same could have been said for Dirk Kuyt when he decided to move on from Liverpool. Hopefully we still get to create some more memorable experiences with Gini, and we don’t reckon he’ll be departing for the next few years at least.

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