Well, the grass hasn’t proven greener for Georginio Wijnaldum after leaving Liverpool.
The Netherlands international was released by Liverpool last summer after failing to agree a new contract at Anfield.
Joining Barcelona looked inevitable, given the speculation that had preceded Wijnaldum’s departure.
However, Paris Saint-Germain swooped with a £180,000-a-week contract and ultimately successfully hijacked Barca’s effort.
But it hasn’t proven a brilliant first season for the former Liverpool midfielder, who is struggling majorly under Mauricio Pochettino and almost left the club on loan this past January.
The 31-year-old’s woes in Paris have had a knock-on effect for his international prospects too, with the player seemingly no longer a first-team regular for the Netherlands after spending 90 minutes on the bench versus Denmark on Saturday night.
And former Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart believes that Wijnaldum made a costly career mistake by leaving Liverpool for PSG last summer.
He’s quoted as saying by TMW: “Wijnaldum made a mistake in choosing PSG, while Berghuis made an excellent choice, choosing to move from Feyenoord to Ajax. Now Georgino will understand why making the right choice is so important.”
Is Van der Vaart right?
Well, he certainly isn’t wrong.
The fact that Wijnaldum hasn’t been a first-team regular under Pochettino this season is testament to the belief that he probably should’ve joined Barcelona.
Or better yet, he probably shouldn’t have left Liverpool!
He wouldn’t have got the money that he’s getting in the French capital, but he would’ve received a salary bump and, more importantly, stayed as an important cog in the Reds’ machine under Jurgen Klopp.
That;s something he’ll never be at Paris Saint-Germain.
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