Former Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman has claimed he was blocked from signing ex-Liverpool star Georginio Wijnaldum.
Koeman, now in charge of the Netherlands national team, says that Barcelona club president Joan Laporta stopped any potential move in order to "annoy him". Wijnaldum was due to become a free agent in the summer of 2021 after failing to agree a new Anfield deal.
Koeman wanted to sign his compatriot in order to bolster his midfield options, but the move never happened and instead, the midfielder went on to join Paris Saint-Germain. Koeman was sacked by Barca just a few months later after a poor start to the campaign.
"I tried to sign Wijnaldum for Barca but I failed because the President wanted to annoy me more than bringing in a player,” said the Dutchman reflecting back on the period. “That delayed the operation and for that reason, he opted for PSG. Otherwise, he would have played for Barcelona,”
It’s a move Wijnaldum most likely now regrets passing up, particularly given how his time in Paris played out. He struggled to solidify a role within the PSG starting XI and finished the last campaign having accumulated just 1653 league minutes. That’s nearly half the number of league minutes he played while at Liverpool (2941) the season before.
He was loaned out by the French champions this summer, joining Jose Mourinho ’s Roma. However, he featured for just ten minutes in their opening game of the season before sustaining a tibia fracture which is expected to keep him sidelined for a number of months. The 31-year-old is now a major doubt for November’s World Cup.
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Few would have predicted such bad fortune for Wijnaldum, who was once labelled by Jurgen Klopp as a “manager’s dream”. Following his final appearance for the Reds, the Liverpool boss said, “I will miss the player he is like crazy, highest-quality ability, one of the smartest players I have ever had the privilege to coach. His contribution was off the scale, a manager’s dream,".
Despite his importance to Liverpool, Wijnlaudm himself claimed that he “didn’t feel loved and appreciated” by a section of supporters at Anfield. Shortly after his departure, the 31-year-old discussed his exit to the Telegraph, stating, “The media didn’t help. There was a story that Liverpool made an offer, I didn’t accept because I wanted more money and the fans made it like: ‘OK, he didn’t get the offer, so he doesn’t try his best to win games’.
“Then the results were not really good and everything looked like it was against me. Some moments, it was like: ‘Wow, me again?’.”
Wijnaldum made 237 appearances across his five years at Anfield and play a crucial role in the Reds lifting both the Premier League and Champions League.
