Georginio Wijnaldum left Newcastle United for Liverpool following the Magpies’ Premier League relegation last summer.
Georginio Wijnaldum has told ESPN that he still loves Newcastle but suggested that he is not expecting a warm reception when he faces the Magpies with Liverpool during the coming season.
Wijnaldum spent one season at St James’ Park, finishing as the side’s top goalscorer in the Premier League with 11 goals from midfield.
Georginio Wijnaldum
However, his goals would not be enough to keep Newcastle in the top flight, and he ended up joining the Reds for £25 million last summer – with BBC Sport reporting that the move saw the Magpies make over £10 million profit on the Netherlands international.
But Rafa Benitez’s men are now back in the top flight, and Wijnaldum expressed his delight at their return before suggesting what he has heard about the reception he will receive when he faces his old side during the coming campaign.
“A lot of clubs didn’t want to take the risk that they took. The people at the club and the fans treated me real good,” he told ESPN.
“I don’t have a bad word to say about Newcastle. I am happy that they are back in the Premier League where they belong. Will I get a good reception there? I don’t know. I heard it won’t be great for me. But I still love that club. When I needed them, when I went there as a new signing, they supported me.”
In fairness to Wijnaldum, if more of the Newcastle squad he was a part of had contributed the goals and assists that he did during the season they were relegated, there is surely no way that they would have gone down, and perhaps Wijnaldum would have felt that he would have wanted to stay at St James’ Park.
And while Wijnaldum clearly wants Newcastle to do well upon their return to the highest level, he will be hoping that Liverpool’s performance justifies his decision to make the switch to Anfield.
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