Georginio Wijnaldum’s career at Liverpool may have started slowly, but the former Magpie is making up for lost time at Anfield, winning their latest player of the month award for March.
The Dutchman was sold to Liverpool for £25m last summer following Newcastle’s relegation to the Championship. Whilst he endured a stuttering start to life on Merseyside, the midfielder is fast becoming a mainstay in Jurgen Klopp’s side, with several impressive performances winning him two of the last three player of the month awards at the cub.
Klopp recently suggested the Dutch International is fast becoming the ‘complete midfielder’, with former Match of the Day presenter, Mark Lawrenson, telling LFC TV that Georginio is a better player now than he was at Newcastle:
“It took him a while to settle, but he has certainly looked a better player playing for Liverpool this season than he did last season at Newcastle”
“Wijnaldum has been very, very good and, like a midfield player, comes up with a few goals every now and again”
Wijnaldum signed for Steve McClaren’s Newcastle United in the summer of 2015, with his £14.5m move from Feyenoord making him our third most expensive signing ever. The attacking midfielder went on to net 11 times in his debut season in England, however, several of the Geordie faithful have mixed opinions of his time on Tyneside.
His contribution in front of goal was impressive, but it was observed that all of his 11 strikes arrived at St. James’ Park, with the 26 year-old failing to muster a single goal away from home. Goals are goals, no matter where you get them, but there was a feeling amongst fans that the midfielder ‘disappeared’ when we needed him the most, with several anonymous displays on the road.
Personally, I feel Gini was one of the last players deserving of criticism in last year’s relegation season and I would’ve loved to see him stay. Naturally we looked for someone to blame after such a woeful season, but for me, Wijnaldum was not the man.
I firmly believed we had a player on our hands, with the smiling assassin giving us the goalscoring midfielder we had lacked for several seasons.
He may have went into his shell at times, but given his involvement in 17 league goals (11 goals, 6 assists), he was one of the only shining lights in an otherwise dismal season for the club.
Good luck to him.
