Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum has refused to comment on links to Barcelona, dismissing them as a ‘rumour’.
The Dutchman has been heavily linked with a move to the Nou Camp this summer, with a reports claiming that he was a target for manager Ronald Koeman.
The rumour has picked up pace in Spain over the last week, with claims that negotiations over a move were ‘well advanced’ and the player had already given his okay to the move.
Those reports have been roundly dismissed in England, with several journalists close to Liverpool denying there has been any contact between the two clubs over a move.
Either way, it is a rumour that is unlikely to go away in this transfer window, particularly if Liverpool continue to be linked with a move for Bayern Munich’s Thiago, who would be a direct competitor for the midfielder.
Wijnaldum, though, has refused to comment on the speculation when asked at a press conference for the Netherlands.
Gini Wijnaldum was duidelijk voorbereid op vragen over mogelijke transfer naar Barcelona. Zegt tot drie keer aan toe hetzelfde en laat het daar bij: ‘Dat is een gerucht, meer kan ik er niet over zeggen’ #Oranje #FCBarcelona pic.twitter.com/0NqtyJ9cWD
— simon zwartkruis (@simonzwartkruis) September 3, 2020
“That’s a rumour, I can’t say more about it,” he told journalists three times when asked about it, reports Voetbal International’s Simon Zwartkruis.
That is pretty much the expected line when it comes to these things, with players often trained in keeping their comments to themselves when it comes to transfer stories.
It is interesting, though, that he didn’t completely dismiss them out of hand. That would suggest there is something to the claims after all, with this rumour likely to continue for the next few weeks.
