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Gini Wijnaldum’s position has been the subject of much debate lately.
Mainly about where he is off the field right now, with his contract status being the source of much speculation.
The Liverpool midfielder is in the final year of his contract at Anfield and is a glaring omission from a long list of players who have compromised their future with the club over the past two years.
While virtually everyone on the team has written new terms since 2018, Wijnaldum remains tied to those agreed upon when he first joined four years ago.
With no active talks under way, Liverpool face the prospect of a big decision over the Dutch international.
Are you looking for a buyer this summer, or are you holding it on for another season and risk him leaving for nothing next?
With his former national manager, Ronald Koeman, now in charge of Barcelona, transfer links, however speculative or tentative today, were always destined to emerge.
“It’s an open contract situation, obviously, otherwise we would know [what’s happening]”Klopp said on Friday.” And that means we don’t talk about it. “
The Liverpool manager refuses to discuss it, but the debate will continue.
And while Wijnaldum’s position off the field is in serious doubt at the moment, he was given a slightly different one here at Wembley.
Named in a midfield three alongside Fabinho and James Milner, the former Newcastle player was tasked with becoming the most advanced of Klopp’s trio of machines.
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Whisper it under your breath, but it was more like the role Koeman played for the Netherlands. One in which you are encouraged to directly annoy the rival goalkeeper.
After all, with 19 goals in his 187 appearances for Liverpool, Wijnaldum does much better in front of goal in the famous orange jersey, scoring 18 goals in just 62 international appearances.
At times, Wijnaldum could be seen pushing past number 9 Roberto Firmino and fast forward brought a raw challenge from David Luiz and a free kick in a promising position.
However, with Arsenal happy to sit deep and invite pressure, Wijnaldum was unable to make a forceful contribution as the Reds chose to use the wide areas that generally bring them so much success.
The arrival of Naby Keita and Takumi Minamino before the hour mark put Wijnaldum further back as he moved to No. 6 and Fabinho was placed in the center back.
Bringing in Keita and Minamino, two of Liverpool’s most creative guys, was a neon sign that the lack of creativity from the core areas was obvious to Klopp.
Liverpool looked much better when the cavalry arrived and Wijnaldum returned to writing in the Reds’ midfield.
Wijnaldum’s debate on where he stands off the pitch will continue, but this outing at Wembley may have ended the discussion on it.
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