Liverpool are reportedly now favourites to sign the 25-year-old.
Tottenham Hotspur have pulled out of the race to sign Georginio Wijnaldum according to the Mirror, and that seems like a wise decision to take.
The Mirror’s report states that Liverpool have jumped to the front of the queue and hope to tie up a deal by the end of the week, after Mauricio Pochettino agreed with his board’s view that the Dutchman is too expensive.
Wijnaldum is undoubtedly a talent but his rumoured £25 million price tag is ludicrous for a player who had nothing more than a decent season in a relegated team after signing for £14.5 million last summer.
Liverpool have repeatedly shown that they are willing to pay over the odds for Premier League talent, with Sadio Mane’s £34 million capture – according to BBC Sport – adding to recent expensive deals for the likes of Christian Benteke, Dejan Lovren and Andy Carroll.
Spurs meanwhile operate within much stricter parameters and have tended to target young players around the £10-15 million range since being stung somewhat in big money deals for Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela.
The club’s recent transfers have proved that money is no guarantee of success, with cheap purchases Dele Alli and Eric Dier outperforming Pochettino’s biggest buy to date – Heung-Min Son – who arrived from Bayer Leverkusen last summer for around £21.9 million, according to the Daily Mail.
Tottenham have been shrewd in their business so far this window, landing Vincent Janssen and Victor Wanyama for a combined fee less than that of Mane’s, and they are seemingly close to a £10.9 million deal for promising winger Georges-Kevin N’Koudou, as reported by the Guardian.
Pochettino has steered Spurs back into the Champions League and to their highest ever Premier League finish after just two seasons at the helm – due in no small part to excellent transfer dealings – and there is no reason to change the approach now.
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