Gini Wijnaldum explains decision to reject Barcelona for PSG

By Conor Laird


Published: June 12, 2021 8:08 pm

Last Updated: June 12, 2021 8:16 pm

Georginio Wijnaldum has this weekend provided an insight into his decision to join Paris Saint-German, rather than Barcelona.

Barca links

Speculation surrounding the future of midfielder Wijnaldum of course took centre stage in the European media over recent months.

This came with the former Newcastle man having snubbed the efforts of those at Anfield to tie him down to fresh terms, ahead of the expiration of his contract this summer.

In turn, for some time, La Liga giants Barcelona were widely viewed as the runaway favourites to clinch Wijnaldum’s signature.

The Blaugrana are of course managed by Ronald Koeman, who spent time overseeing the now ex-Liverpool star’s development during a stint in charge of the Netherlands.

Some outlets even went as far as to suggest that a pre-contract agreement had already been found between the parties.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – JANUARY 19: Georginio Wijnaldum of Liverpool controls the ball in front of Luke Shaw of Manchester United during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Manchester United at Anfield on January 19, 2020 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

‘A difficult choice’

It therefore came as something of a surprise when, over the last couple of weeks, reports in the media began to mount that Wijnaldum was in fact leaning away from the Camp Nou, and towards another of European football’s heavyweights.

The outfit in question? Paris Saint-Germain.

Amid widespread claims that the French giants had tabled a considerably more lucrative financial offer than their Spanish counterparts, Wijnaldum was tipped to snub Catalunya in favour of Paris.

And, on Thursday, this is precisely what the 30-year-old went on to do:

✍️🆕 #WelcomeGini@GWijnaldum

🔴🔵 #WeAreParispic.twitter.com/qHd7Se42cV

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) June 10, 2021

In turn, speaking during a press conference this afternoon, it came as little surprise when Wijnaldum was drawn on his eventual decision regarding his future.

And the Dutchman went on to cite the eagerness of PSG to reach an agreement, as well as the project laid out by the Parisians, as key, after negotiations with Barcelona dragged on for a full month:

‘It was a difficult choice. We negotiated with Barcelona for four weeks, but we did not reach an agreement.’

‘PSG were just quicker and their project spoke to me more. To be honest, I thought I was joining Barcelona because at the beginning they were the only interested club.’

‘PSG and Barcelona are both truly great clubs, and both are clubs where I would have liked to play. I wanted to make my decision before the start of the Euros and in the end I chose PSG.’

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Premier League table

#	Team	MP	D	P
1	Manchester City FC	38	51	86
2	Manchester United FC	38	29	74
3	Liverpool FC	38	26	69
4	Chelsea FC	38	22	67
5	Leicester City FC	38	18	66
6	West Ham United FC	38	15	65
7	Tottenham Hotspur FC	38	23	62
8	Arsenal FC	38	16	61
9	Leeds United	38	8	59
10	Everton FC	38	-1	59
11	Aston Villa FC	38	9	55
12	Newcastle United FC	38	-16	45
13	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	38	-16	45
14	Crystal Palace FC	38	-25	44
15	Southampton FC	38	-21	43
16	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	38	-6	41
17	Burnley FC	38	-22	39
18	Fulham FC	38	-26	28
19	West Bromwich Albion	38	-41	26
20	Sheffield United FC	38	-43	23

Player	Team	Goals
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur FC	23
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	22
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	17
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur FC	17
Bamford, Patrick	Leeds United	17
Calvert-Lewin, Dominic	Everton FC	16
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City FC	15
Watkins, Ollie	Aston Villa FC	14
Gundogan, Ilkay	Manchester City FC	13
Lacazette, Alexandre	Arsenal FC	13
Wilson, Callum	Newcastle United FC	12
Ings, Danny	Southampton FC	12
Wood, Chris	Burnley FC	12
Iheanacho, Kelechi	Leicester City FC	12
Rashford, Marcus	Manchester United FC	11
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	11
Pereira, Matheus	West Bromwich Albion	11
Bale, Gareth	Tottenham Hotspur FC	11
Zaha, Wilfried	Crystal Palace FC	11
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City FC	10

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Player	Team	Red Cards	Yellow Cards
McGinn, John	Aston Villa FC	0	12
Gallagher, Conor	West Bromwich Albion	0	11
Maguire, Harry	Manchester United FC	0	11
Phillips, Kalvin	Leeds United	0	10
Hojbjerg, Pierre	Tottenham Hotspur FC	0	9
Milivojevic, Luka	Crystal Palace FC	1	8
Lundstram, John	Sheffield United FC	1	8
Luiz, Douglas	Aston Villa FC	0	8
Holgate, Mason	Everton FC	0	9
Bissouma, Yves	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	1	8
Soucek, Tomas	West Ham United FC	1	7
Shaw, Luke	Manchester United FC	0	8
Xhaka, Granit	Arsenal FC	1	7
Bellerin, Hector	Arsenal FC	0	8
Andersen, Joachim	Fulham FC	1	7
Egan, John	Sheffield United FC	1	7
Hayden, Isaac	Newcastle United FC	0	8
Dallas, Stuart	Leeds United	0	7
McGoldrick, David	Sheffield United FC	0	7
Reid, Bobby	Fulham FC	0	7

Player	Team	Assists
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur FC	14
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	12
De Bruyne, Kevin	Manchester City FC	11
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur FC	10
Grealish, Jack	Aston Villa FC	10
Rashford, Marcus	Manchester United FC	9
Raphinha	Leeds United	9
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City FC	8
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	8
Harrison, Jack	Leeds United	8
Werner, Timo	Chelsea FC	8
Gross, Pascal	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	8
Cresswell, Aaron	West Ham United FC	8
Pereira, Matheus	West Bromwich Albion	7
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City FC	7
Firmino, Roberto	Liverpool FC	7
Ward-Prowse, James	Southampton FC	7
Eze, Eberechi	Crystal Palace FC	7
Alexander-Arnold, Trent	Liverpool FC	7
Robertson, Andrew	Liverpool FC	7