Does Wijnaldum regret leaving Liverpool for PSG?

Stefan Bienkowski

• 11 Oct 2021 16:07 BST
• 7 min read

Former Liverpool midfielder Gini Wijnaldum has admitted that he isn’t completely happy with how his move to Paris Saint-Germain has panned out so far.

The Netherlands international made a free transfer to the Ligue 1 giants in the summer, after his contract at Anfield expired.

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Wijnaldum has made a number of remarks about not feeling wanted enough at Liverpool and as such took up the option of moving to another club when his contract came to an end.

However, it seems as though Wijnaldum’s new club may be even more ambivalent about his tactics, as the senior midfielder comes to terms with spending more time on the bench than he was perhaps expecting.

“I can’t say I’m completely happy,” Wijnaldum told Dutch Media ahead of the Netherlands' World Cup qualifier against Gibraltar.

“Because the situation is not what I wanted. But that’s football and I’ll have to learn to deal with that. I’m a fighter. I have to stay positive and work hard to turn it around.

“I have played a lot in recent years, was always fit and also did very well. This is something different and that takes getting used to. I was really looking forward to the new step and then this happens. It is very difficult.”

Why hasn’t Wijnaldum been playing for PSG?

Although Wijnaldum did start PSG’s first four league games of the season, he was then dropped to the bench after some lukewarm performances.

Since then, PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino has tended to favour a midfield duo of Idrissa Gueye and Marco Verratti, or a trio of the aforementioned pairing alongside Leandro Paredes or Ander Herrera.

However, while Wijnaldum may not have felt as though he was given enough time to prove himself, he must have already known how much depth PSG had in the centre of the pitch and the kind of competition he would be up against each week.