Wijnaldum explains why he chose Liverpool over Spurs

Matt Stead

Liverpool star Georginio Wijnaldum says he was “done with football” in the summer until he met Jurgen Klopp and signed for the German.

After a disastrous failure to reach Euro 2016 with Holland and relegation with Newcastle the Holland midfielder was at a low ebb.

In fact, after scoring on June 1 to give Holland a 2-1 win over Poland, he did not watch another competitive match until 10 July – the final of Euro 2016.

“I was done with football for a few weeks,” he told The Guardian. “These are better days.”

Wijnaldum then explained why he opted to move to Anfield despite firm interest from Tottenham following his relegation with Newcastle.

“I had great conversations with [Mauricio] Pochettino and Klopp,” said Wijnaldum. “But in the meeting with Jurgen we had a laugh and did not speak only about football. He was interested in my personal life and that was good for me.

“He was not only interested in Wijnaldum the footballer but Wijnaldum the person. When you’re not out on the football field you have to communicate as people and it is good if you know something about how the other person is. It makes things easier.”