Former Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman has revealed he tried to bring ex-Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum to the Camp Nou before he opted to join Paris Saint-Germain instead.
The Dutch international was on Merseyside for five years between 2016 and 2021, before he departed at the end of his contract last year. He wasn't short of suitors, but eventually opted to make the move to France on a free transfer.
It hasn't worked out for Wijnaldum at the Parc des Princes yet as he fell out of favour and was often restricted to appearances from the bench last season. This term, he embarked on another new challenge as he joined Serie A side Roma on a season long loan.
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That, too, hasn't gone to plan as shortly after his arrival and just one appearance for his new club, a training ground injury in August was diagnosed as a fractured tibia. It could've panned out differently for the midfielder, however, as Koeman has now revealed he was close to joining Barcelona after his departure from Liverpool.
“I tried to sign Wijnaldum for Barca,” Koeman, who was sacked by the La Liga club in October last year, explained to Dutch outlet AD.
“But I failed because the President (Joan Laporta) wanted to annoy me more than bringing in a player. That delayed the operation and, for that reason, he opted for PSG. Otherwise, he would have played for Barcelona.”
Wijnaldum spoke for the first time since suffering the injury earlier this week and shared an update via his own social media platforms. He spoke of the sadness he's felt in the last few weeks as he came to terms with the injury and also thanked supporters for their encouraging messages of support.
“Since my injury I didn't respond or send a video out simply because I was really emotional and sad about the situation around my injury,” the midfielder said in a video on Twitter . “First of all I want to say sorry, second I can say that now I'm in a really good space with my rehab programme. I accept the situation as it is and that is why I can now give 100% in my rehab. Everything is going well."
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