Jurgen Klopp said Georginio Wijnaldum has a “special kind of football smartness” following the Dutchman’s Liverpool switch.
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“There was interest from Everton but Liverpool had more interest”.
The Holland global will wear the Reds’ no. 5 shirt and will link up with his new club for the first time this weekend on their pre-season tour of the United States.
Wijnaldum has been strongly linked with a move to Anfield over the past week after Jurgen Klopp turned his attention to the Dutch worldwide after failing with his attempts to land Udinese midfielder Piotr Zielinski.
Likely to take up a key role in Klopp’s midfield in 2016/17, Wijnaldum has been praised by his new manager for his versatility.
Wijnaldum came off the bench 11 minutes from time to a mixture of boos and cheers from the Championship club’s 2,252 travelling fans. “We just knew that we would get assists from him, goals from him and that was the sort of thing that stood out to us”.
‘Of course Liverpool is a big club with a good history. He showed what he could do at Dortmund and it lifted me to hear that he wanted me.
Asked about the prospect of working with Klopp, he added: “A great man – from the outside – because I don’t know how he works yet and I have to work with him”.
“In that conversation he made me feel really good”, Wijnaldum said.
“I had a feeling that I wanted to join Liverpool”.
“And to play in our team, you need to play at the highest level – that’s the case for all of them”. He said: “I am so happy that we have got him and he can join us now in the USA”.
‘He eventually makes it to Liverpool via PSV and Newcastle.
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“It will be really important that every player thinks he is really important, but in the moment when he thinks he is more important than other players, then we have a problem”, he said. I had an opportunity to buy him and I had no hesitation because on the field he can play in various positions, he works and can score goals – a big asset.
