Liverpool fans should be happy that Wijnaldum turned down Barcelona

Liverpool fans should be happy that Gini Wijanldum is staying.

It’s not 100% certain yet, but reports coming from the UK seem to suggest that Gini Wijnaldum will be staying at Anfield for the foreseeable future.

News of the deal should have Liverpool fans excited. The social media brigade may not agree with me one bit, as it’s on Twitter that the Dutch midfielder’s time at Anfield has been picked apart and unfairly ridiculed in recent weeks.

I could throw up a lot of stats at this point to show how important Gini is in the Jurgen Klopp system. A system that asks for a lot of unselfish work from a midfield trio that all too often goes over the head of casual fans that misunderstand what’s happening on the field.

However, doing so would be pointless as there is only one thing that fans should ask when it comes to our players, what does the gaffer think? As far as Jurgen’s personal opinions on the player go, it’s a fact that Gini Wijnaldum started 35 of the 38 Premier League games last season, which means the boss trusts him to do his job and we should all trust that Jurgen knows best.

Despite my feelings of Gini’s on-pitch importance it’s not this that should have reds fans excited about his new deal. For me, the real victory here is that one of our players has turned down Barcelona and would prefer to stay on Merseyside.

For years it has seemed that Liverpool were shaping up to be nothing more than a feeder club for the Spanish giants. Every time the Catalan club were mentioned in the same sentence as one of our top players reds fans would panic that were about to lose another star.

The temptation of a move to the Nou Camp was so big for Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez that they did everything in their power to force moves away from Anfield.

But, with Gini deciding to stay instead of joining up with his former national coach, Ronald Koeman, in what could be an exciting rebuilding project, shows that the tables have turned.

Liverpool FC is no longer the little lapdog of Europe’s so-called footballing elite. No longer do our best players see us as a stepping stone. Anfield is the destination club and Liverpool fans would go a long way not to forget it.