Former Liverpool star Georginio Wijnaldum has replied to Jurgen Klopp's claim that the Dutchman is the "perfect midfielder" after signing for Roma.
The Netherlands international was a fan favourite during his five-year stay in the red half of Merseyside but called time on his Liverpool career last summer to join French giants Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer. Unfortunately, things failed to play out as expected in the French capital and Wijnaldum is on his travels once again.
This time, the 31-year-old has opted to sign for Italian titans Roma under the guidance of current manager Jose Mourinho. During his first official media duties out in Italy, Wijnaldum was pressed for comment on glowing remarks from his old boss, Klopp.
Back in 2019, the Reds manager reflected on the fact that Wijnaldum was shortlisted for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award by explaining that while his efforts may have gone underrated by the rest of the footballing world up to that point, they had not been ignored at Liverpool.
"It is not my fault if he goes under the radar," Klopp added. "Gini speaks on the pitch with the way he plays. He is the perfect midfielder. He has all the things you need: both directions, small spaces, big spaces, hard challenges, fine football, all of that.
"Gini is a good personality in the dressing room. He is not the guy who says yes to everything." Responding to the flattering review three years later, Wijnaldum was humbled as he pondered: "It's always difficult to say what is the perfect midfielder. I think at Liverpool my style fit good with the style of play so maybe for Liverpool, I was [the perfect midfielder].
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"I can understand that for other teams it will be difficult to be the perfect midfielder because they play in another type of football and another system. I think everyone will have their opinion over what the perfect midfielder is, of course, if a manager like Klopp says you are then you will be incredibly happy."
Despite Klopp's compliment, his decision to not meet the wage demands of the midfielder, which led to his exit was criticised by pundit Tony Cascarino last season. "The big miss for Liverpool is Gini Wijnaldum, who left a big hole when he went to PSG," he insisted.
"Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thiago do not do the same job, especially against big physical opposition such as Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek for West Ham".
The Reds are yet to truly replace Wijnaldum in the middle of the park and are in the midst of a midfield crisis after a sudden influx of injuries. All of Oxlade-Chamberlain, Curtis Jones, Naby Keita and Thiago Alcantara are facing spells on the sidelines.
This all comes just one game into the new Premier League season, but thankfully there is still time to rectify the issue by bolstering their ranks in the transfer window. That would mean Klopp would have to backtrack on his previous sentiment that Liverpool had concluded their business for the summer.
Last term, Klopp confessed he still "misses" Wijnaldum. "Even when we prepare for an opponent like Chelsea, we look at our games against Chelsea and see Gini running around there," he added. "We still have to get used to that. It is not only on the pitch we miss him but we really, really miss him in the dressing room as well."
