Georginio Wijnaldum is a shock free agent. After 21 goal involvements this season, the former Liverpool hero is leaving Al Ettifaq due to financial restructuring. With a Premier League return rumoured but the “mystery” destination wide open, we look at where the veteran Dutchman will head next.
Former Liverpool star Georginio Wijnaldum is set to leave Al Ettifaq this summer, with the decision to make him leave as a free agent, a purely financial call, according to reports.
It has been a long five years since Wijnaldum last pulled on Liverpool red shirt at Anfield, with the Dutchman a much-loved figure on Merseyside.
The now 35-year-old went on to make 237 appearances for the Reds, in sides that boasted the likes of Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane in attack, with a Premier League and Champions League triumphantly lifted along the way.
Like Firmino, too, the Rotterdam-born midfielder has ended up in the comfortable confines of the Saudi Pro League, where he has managed to bag a stunning 36 goals and collect 16 assists for Al Ettifaq.
Unfortunately, though, his journey in the Middle East looks to be coming to an end, with Saad Al-Shehri’s outfit reported as having to get rid of Wijnaldum at the end of the season, due to financial reasons.
Wijnaldum will soon be a free agent
As journalist Ben Jacobs has reported, the one-time PSV Eindhoven playmaker will have to walk away from his Saudi Pro League environment in the summer, having originally moved to the Middle East when Steven Gerrard was manager.
This is because Ettifaq lacks the budget to offer an acceptable renewal, with another of their first-team stars, Jack Hendry, also likely to be on the move, for the same troubling reasons.
Therefore, the duo will be departing this summer on amicable terms, unless a new injection of budget is heading the way of the club.
With Wijnaldum on an alleged £250k-per-week pay packet in the Middle East, it’s hardly a shock that Ettifaq are looking to get rid of one of their more lavish earners.
Additional reports speculate that the 35-year-old ace is considering a return to the Premier League, despite being firmly in the twilight years of his career, with the veteran even once calling Newcastle United home before sparking into life at Liverpool.
With 15 goals and six assists this season in all competitions, it’s clear that the Dutchman still has the same mojo he possessed in spades at the Reds, which made him such a likeable figure under Jurgen Klopp.
Wijnaldum is a cult hero at Liverpool
While he has been somewhat forgotten now, with names such as Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai making up Arne Slot‘s modern-day midfield, Wijnaldum does boast a very entertaining highlights reel at Anfield, looking back.
Indeed, for the Reds across the 237 games previously mentioned, the midfield livewire would go on to collect 22 goals and 16 assists.
The most memorable strike of them all was this thunderous effort against Barcelona in 2019, which helped Klopp’s side overturn a four-goal deficit to reach the Champions League final and collect the illustrious trophy.
Amazingly, the Dutchman also scored another goal on that night, just two minutes after smashing home this goal past Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, as he solidified his place in Reds folklore forevermore.
Always a reliable performer, right until his exit to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, it will be intriguing to see what club he moves to next, as he winds down his globetrotting career.
Realistically, he might be facing Slot’s men next season, with the 5-foot-9 star surely set for a wonderful reception, if he does cross paths with the Reds again.
