Georginio Wijnaldum joined Liverpool in the summer.
Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum has shared with reporters how manager Jurgen Klopp told him he could vastly improve as a player prior to joining Liverpool, Sky Sports report.
The Holland international had a superb debut season in the Premier League, yet despite notching 11 league goals for Newcastle United his side still ended up being relegated to the Championship.
Tipped for an immediate return to the top flight, Wijnaldum subsequently joined the Reds in the summer but not before a convincing conversation with former Borussia Dortmund manager Klopp.
“Before we even had a conversation, he asked me: ‘Why were you sitting on the bench last season?’ because I had two games I was on the bench last season,” Wijnaldum told Sky Sports.
“I explained to him and said: ‘OK we can now have a conversation.’ We talked about football and how he wants to play, how he sees me in his team.
“And also that he can make me a much better player because he said: ‘You can develop much more than you have now.’ I also had it in my head that I can be much better than right now and I had a feeling that he was the right man to help me with that.”
Wijnaldum played mostly as a number 10 for the Magpies, but with so many attacking options on Merseyside he has seen a change in role where he now features as a box-to-box midfielder.
The 25-year-old has yet to find the net in Liverpool colours, yet some argue he now looks more balanced in the middle of the park at Anfield and there appears to be more to his game.
Wijnaldum has averaged more key passes, shots on goal, tackles and effective clearances per league encounter for Liverpool than he managed in Newcastle colours last season (WhoScored).
The former PSV man has featured in all six matches for Liverpool this season, with three of those away at fellow top-four challengers Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.
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