Former Liverpool star Georginio Wijnaldum has explained how Mohamed Salah helped him in choosing Roma this summer.
The Dutch international midfielder left Anfield as a free agent after his contract at the club expired last summer, before joining Paris Saint-Germain. But his spell in the French capital was described as a 'nightmare'. Wijnaldum's exit from the Reds has not gone as planned and he even admitted last season that he was not "completely happy" in Paris following his transfer.
Wijnaldum struggled to adapt to PSG and a local media outlet even harshly labelled him as the 'Ligue 1 Flop of the Year' while separate reports claimed that the club's South American contingent – led by Lionel Messi – did not get along with Wijnaldum.
The 31-year-old – who Jurgen Klopp previously labelled as the "perfect midfielder" – has now exited the Parc des Princes to join Roma on a season-long loan deal, where he will be coached by Jose Mourinho.
Transfer mistake
Wijnaldum did not shy away from comments about how difficult his time was at PSG and his decision to join the club last year following his Liverpool exit has been criticised.
Last season, pundit Tony Cascarino said of the midfielder's exit from Anfield: "The big miss for Liverpool is Gini Wijnaldum, who left a big hole when he went to PSG. 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."
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Former Dutch international Rafael van de Vaart compared Wijnaldum's struggles last season to the rise of Steven Berghuis, who has starred after leaving Feyenoord for Ajax – also in last summer's market. "Wijnaldum made a mistake in choosing PSG," Van der Vaart said.
"Meanwhile, Berghuis made an excellent choice choosing to move from Feyenoord to Ajax. Now Georginio will understand why making the right choice is so important."
Salah advice on Roma
Wijnaldum is now looking to rectify his error in moving to Paris with his exit to Roma on a season-long loan deal, having sought the advice of former Giallorossi stars – including a certain Egyptian forward.
"I wanted to come because of the effort the club made to sign me and because I spoke to Mo Salah and Kevin Strootman about the club and the city and I only heard good stories about it," Wijnaldum explained upon his unveiling. "I also spoke to Achraf Hakimi, even if he played for Inter. He said that Roma is a beautiful club. That convinced me a lot also because I knew the club.
"We played once with Liverpool and the atmosphere was amazing. I knew I'd play for a club with beautiful supporters, it was the only thing that I knew. What convinced me the most was the effort Tiago Pinto put in to sign me. I felt wanted and appreciated and that made me make the decision."
Klopp's "perfect midfielder"
Klopp said of Wijnaldum during his time at Anfield: "It is not my fault if he goes under the radar. 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."
Wijnaldum joined Liverpool in the first summer transfer window under Klopp – signed from Newcastle, who had just been relegated – and he became an instrumental member of the first team, making a total of 237 appearances for the Reds across five seasons – in which he bagged 22 goals.
Wijnaldum later responded to that strong admiration by claiming: "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].
"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."
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."
