Gini Wijnaldum has offered a fresh update on his future as the Liverpool midfielder reportedly closes in on a move to Barcelona.
Gini Wijnaldum said: “You can’t congratulate me yet. I can’t say anything about it yet. It’s not finished yet, so there is no news yet. We will see. I am still busy saying goodbye to Liverpool. I am still emotional because I got a goodbye that not many players got before me. Why I left, you will hear again. It will come out. The club also has to do with the fact that I am gone.”
Meanwhile, Wijnaldum, who will captain his homeland this summer in Virgil van Dijk’s absence, added his move won’t be impacted by Ronald Koeman’s future with his former Netherlands boss reportedly under pressure at Barcelona.
Gini Wijnaldum added: “What is happening now between Barcelona and Koeman, I read in the media. It’s hard to judge, I’m not in those conversations. But I think it’s a shame that it comes out like this and has to go like this. I would rather see trainers and clubs solve it differently. Not specifically in this case, but in general. But apparently that is difficult.”
Why it seems rather likely that Wijnaldum will be joining Barcelona, he might be made to wait on completing the transfer if the La Liga outfit don’t conclude negotiations shortly after Netherlands boss Frank De Boer insisted he doesn’t want his players undergoing medicals while on international duty.
Gini Wijnaldum said: “Those players will have to be patient until after the tournament.”
EURO 2020 gets underway on June 11, with Netherlands’ group campaign getting underway against Ukraine two days later with the Dutch also scheduled to take on Austria and North Macedonia in Group C.