Georginio Wijnaldum’s Agent Provides Background on Offers from European Giants

In an exclusive interview with the Here We Go podcast, Gini Wijnaldum’s agent Humphry Nijman spoke about what went on in the background whilst fans awaited the decision about his future. The midfielder was given an offer to extend his time at Liverpool, but he turned it down whilst weighing a range of other options. He finally settled on a move to Paris Saint-Germain, to play with the team coached by the very likeable and skilled Mauricio Pochettino.

“He had a fantastic time at Liverpool. It started when we visited the house of Mr Klopp and a plan was made that they wanted to win the championship and the Champions League, and that was achieved”, Nijman said, as reported by Goal.

“That was fantastic for the fans in Liverpool, fantastic for the manager and fantastic for the player. The player was really happy they achieved their goals.

“His contract was expiring so he was a free agent after this season.

“Of course, an attempt was made [to keep him at Liverpool] but he made another choice.”

He also mentioned the interest shown by major European clubs like Inter Milan, Juventus, and his eventual destination - PSG.

“It started quite early, in January Inter Milan showed interest”, he said.

“They made an offer for Gini but there were problems with the owners getting the money out of China so Inter wasn’t able to fulfil their initial obligations.

“They had made him a very, very good offer. If the financial problems were not there, it could have been a serious option.

“After that the director of Juventus phoned me and showed interest. Also in the same period, (sporting director) Leonardo from PSG approached me. We knew [head coach Ronald] Koeman at Barcelona would like to bring Georginio to Barcelona. At a later stage Bayern Munich showed an interest.

“[PSG boss Mauricio] Pochettino had talks with Gini and how he saw his role and what he expected from him.

“Barcelona we had some talks and initially it looked all really good and we were along the way [to an agreement] but Paris were telling us their interest was quite serious. When both offers came on the table, he had to make a choice.”

And it was PSG who won the race at the end signing Wijnaldum on a free transfer.