Wijnaldum priority to renew Liverpool contract

With interest from Barcelona cooled, Georginio Wijnaldum now sees renewing his contract with Liverpool as the preferred option regarding his future, according to Sport.

Barcelona’s interest in the versatile midfielder came to the fore last summer, when it was reported that Ronald Koeman would love to work with the player he used to coach at the Netherlands national team. However, there were many turmoils at the Catalan club at the time, most notably surrounding six-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, and no concrete offer arrived to Merseyside.

With the expiration of Wijnaldum’s contract approaching fast and the player himself repeatedly stating that there has been no news on agreeing a new one, many expected him to join Barcelona in the summer as a free agent. But it seems the interest of the La Liga giants has now cooled down in light of Ilaix Moriba’s rise the first team. The 18-year-old is believed to possess many of the qualities Koeman sees in Wijnaldum and the club are keen to put as much faith in youth as possible.

The Dutchman now apparently wants to stay at Liverpool, though he has been linked with Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain as well.