Liverpool star Georginio Wijnaldum is at risk of turning into famous Anfield snake Emre Can if his contract impasse isn’t brought to a conclusion.
Doesn’t it feel like we’ve been down this road before? Liverpool fans have walked the line and it doesn’t normally end well.
We were lead down the garden path with Emre Can. Entering the final season of his deal, were we all hopeful that the German would sign fresh terms but as the clock ticked down towards the end of his contract the ugly truth slowly revealed itself like a bad scratch ‘n sniff.
The situation with Georginio Wijnaldum is beginning to look a little bit similar.
And the odd thing about it is that Liverpool have been so good at securing new deals for important players. Unless they are about to leave on a free, big clubs don’t generally let key men enter the last year on their deal without an extension in place.
All the noises are good. Everyone is saying the right things, but something isn’t adding up.
James Milner signed a new contract, Jordan Henderson penned an extension, Joel Matip signed up for a few more years. They’ve all been through it.
But for some reason, the Dutchman hasn’t.
And he needs to look lively if he wants to leave Anfield with the respect of the Liverpool masses. Nothing would be worse than robbing the Reds of a decent transfer fee, and Inter Milan are rumoured to be interested in offering a healthy wedge for the former Newcastle United man.
At his age, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if Georginio Wijnaldum left and enabled fresh blood to come through. We’ve seen how stagnation can effect teams – just glance at Tottenham Hotspur for evidence.
But whatever comes to pass, Wijnaldum can’t let this drag on and turn into an Emre Can situation and spoil his reputation among the Anfield masses.