Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk has openly admitted he disagrees with Louis van Gaal's decision to omit Georginio Wijnaldum from the latest Netherlands squad.
The midfielder was a teammate of Van Dijk's at Anfield up until last summer when he swapped Merseyside for the French capital to join Ligue 1 titans Paris Saint-Germain. It is a move that has hardly played out as planned, with Wijnaldum finding first-team minutes hard to come by.
As a result of being starved of action in Paris, Wijnaldum has now also lost his place in the national team. However, that is a decision that has not gone down well with many of the players in the current Oranje set-up - with Van Dijk just one of many to stick up for the 31-year-old.
The Reds defensive stalwart did concede that Wijnaldum is not experiencing his best form, but that should not be enough to take him out of the team.
"I think – but I’m not the national coach – that Gini with his qualities always belongs in orange," Van Dijk said before Friday night's 4-0 win over Belgium. "But he’s not at the best stage of his career. He’s not comfortable in his own skin. He has to accept the choice that the national coach has made."
Van Gaal was less sympathetic towards the situation and told Dutch outlet VI : "Unfortunately, little has changed in Gini's situation at his club since our last two international matches in March. As a result, I am forced to make other choices, no matter how difficult and regrettable I personally find it."
HAVE YOUR SAY! Does Wijnaldum deserve to be dropped from the Netherlands national side? Comment below
The timing of his omission will surely worry Wijnaldum considering the World Cup is now just a mere matter of months away, though there is still time for him to play his way back into Van Gaal's plans.
In truth, he can have few complaints over failing to make this latest squad when analysing his return for PSG last season. 31 games for Mauricio Pochettino's side last term saw Wijnaldum notch just one goal and register three assists.
His last season at Liverpool saw him feature for 3,922 minutes across 51 games in all competitions and even donned the armband on occasion. In contrast, Wijnaldum played just 1,914 minutes for the Parisians during his debut campaign.
A potential Premier League return for Wijanldum has been reported, with both Arsenal and Newcastle United rumoured to be keen in the midfielder. The links stem from the January transfer window and both sides could look to spark their interest once again this summer.
