Even should Liverpool fail to extend Gini Wijnaldum’s current contract, the Dutchman could be put off by a move to Barcelona, given the fact that Ronald Koeman’s future at the Catalan club is far from certain.
Financial disarray, the Leo Messi debacle and a behind-the-scenes power shuffle have already made the La Liga giant a not-so attractive option for prospective signings.
“Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman has made no secret of his desire to take Wijnaldum to Catalonia,” James Pearce wrote for The Athletic. “He wanted to buy him last summer but the club didn’t have the funds to test Liverpool’s resolve to keep hold of him.”
“However, Koeman is in no place to make Wijnaldum any guarantees about next season,” the Liverpool journalist added. “It’s been a turbulent time for the La Liga giants and Koeman’s own future at the club is far from secure ahead of the presidential election on January 24th.”
Should a new club president desire even a slightly radical shake-up at the side, the former Everton manager could be the first casualty.
Questions would then arise as to Wijnaldum’s future, if Koeman’s replacement wasn’t as keen on the Liverpool No.5 as his predecessor.
Given the ongoing difficulties at Barcelona, one would imagine that Gini would be starting to have doubts about choosing the Catalan side as the place to deliver his last few prime years of football.
It’s both a promising and a worrying sign that the 30-year-old has yet to put pen-to-paper on the new contract offered, but we’d hope that our comparatively thriving state would be enough to convince him to stay.
We can understand the desire for wages to reflect his value at Liverpool, so we’re hopeful that the most recent terms provided satisfy the Dutch international.