Photoby John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
John Aldridge is concerned the uncertainty surrounding
Wijnaldum’s future could become a problem.
The longer talk of Gini Wijnaldum to Barcelona drags on the more
inevitable it seems, at least as it’s being painted by a press
eager to pair his proposed move to join Ronald Koeman with a Thiago Alcantara Liverpool switch.
At the same time, the longer talk of Wijnaldum to Barcelona
drags on with no sign of any particularly meaningful development
the more one has to wonder if in the end it might not happen—and
John Aldridge is concerned by that dragging on.
“You very rarely see him giving the ball away, but he did that a
few times in the first half against Arsenal,” the former Red said in his Sunday
World column as relayed by Goal today. “That may be because his future is
up in the air.
“There has been a lot of talk that Thiago Alcantara will replace
Wijnaldum in the Liverpool squad and there are rumours that he has
been tapped up by Barcelona’s new manager Ronald Koeman.”
Certainly Wijnaldum’s game against Arsenal was far from perfect,
but he wasn’t alone in that and it seems at least as likely that
his mistakes were simply reflective of a tired player, one who had
put in a lot of pre-season running.
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With a focus on fitness in pre-season, players often enter
matches with lower energy levels than they do during the season as
they look to ramp up their stamina alongside match sharpness. As
such, if it was only Wijnaldum who looked off it might have been
concerning—but it wasn’t.
Still, if a move to Barcelona for the player is on—and
with it a complementary move to Liverpool for Thiago—it probably
would be in everyone’s best interest to get the deals done before
the season proper kicks off.
“Players who are uncertain over their future can be affected in
matches,” Aldridge added. “Liverpool can’t afford to allow that
issue to become a big problem.”