After having spent five seasons at Anfield, Georginio Wijnaldum left Liverpool as a free agent in the summer.
The 30-year-old joined Paris Saint-Germain in June, a year after being heavily linked to Barcelona. Prior to agreeing to join the Ligue 1 side, the midfielder hinted issues at the Merseyside club convinced him to leave the Reds after last season.
The Netherlands international could have picked the La Liga giants over PSG in the last transfer window.
L’Equipe interviewed the former Newcastle United man and quizzed him why he left a ‘legendary club’ like Liverpool for PSG.
“Like I said, you follow your feeling. Several months ago, I had expressed the desire to stay in Liverpool but, without going into details, Liverpool did not give me the feeling of wanting to keep me. In these cases, we have to move forward,” he said.
The situation with Jürgen Klopp’s side last season convinced him to look at other options as the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and PSG came forward.
“Barcelona came. I was really happy because, since I was a child, as for the majority of Dutch players, it was the club of my dreams even if I must admit that my idol was Zinedine Zidane,” Wijnaldum explained.
“I had a good idea to commit to Barça. But the negotiations lasted a very long time and Paris arrived. Unlike six years earlier, the club showed me their desire to recruit me. It was time for me to have something else.”
Liverpool are yet to really replace Wijnaldum, and that will be something the Reds surely look to do in the coming windows.
