Liverpool's 'perfect' midfielder Wijnaldum would be near impossible to replace

As a child he wanted to be a gymnast, but instead he’s turned into one of the world’s most flexible footballers. Gini Wijnaldum’s worth to Liverpool is unquestionable. He is the Reds’ man for all seasons, and all positions. Hardly noticed, rarely lauded, but always vital.

“So, so consistent,” said Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after Wednesday’s 2-0 win at West Ham, a victory which took Jurgen Klopp’s side 19 points clear at the top of the Premier League. Wijnaldum, along with captain Jordan Henderson, had helped Liverpool boss the game at the London Stadium.

With their midfield dominant, the league leaders barely needed to step out of second gear to record their 23rd win of the campaign. Consistency could be Wijnaldum’s middle name, which is remarkable given the amount of different roles the 29-year-old has performed throughout his career.

As a schoolboy growing up in Rotterdam, he played at centre-back and right-back, eventually breaking into Feyenoord’s first-team as a teenager playing mainly off the right wing. At the De Kuip, and later with PSV and Newcastle, he evolved further. He played as a No.10 and off the left side. He made goals and he scored them; there were 18 in his final Eredivisie season, and another 11 in his first Premier League campaign – and that in a relegated side.

At Liverpool, the journey has continued with Wijnaldum dropping deeper and adding more strings to his bow. He is, in many ways, the ultimate modern footballer, a chameleon, capable of tailoring his game depending on what the team requires.

Need a No.6 to screen the defence and start the attacks? He can do it. Need a space-filling, hard-running No.8 to protect the full-backs and move the ball through the thirds? He’s your man. He’s played at centre-back for Liverpool and as a deep-lying centre-forward too. Never has he looked out of his depth.

“I would say that Gini and Bobby [Firmino] represent ‘our way’ in the best way possible,” Pep Lijnders, Liverpool’s assistant manager, said last year. “Because we want players who are responsible for everything.

“Gini is a player who can drop and create three at the back for a short period of time, bring the ball out, and at the same time turn in midfield and find somebody straight away in between the lines. And then he can pass and move into the last line or even over the last line. He can arrive in scoring areas, he can head, he can score.

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“He’s also still learning. Football is a game where you never stop learning and becoming a better player. I think he represents what we want in a player, really well.”

Klopp, of course, is as big a fan. “Is he the perfect midfielder?” he asked back in October. “From the skillset, 100 per cent. He has all the things you need. It is just so obvious, his importance.”

What is less obvious, though, is why Liverpool find themselves in a situation where Wijnaldum has entered the final 18 months of his contract with, as things stand, no suggestion that an extension is near. 

Aside from Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne, whose deals expire in the summer, all of Klopp’s first-team squad are tied to long-term contracts. Stability, rather than uncertainty, is the name of the game.

Talks with Wijnaldum, Goal understands, have been put on hold for the time being. Klopp, unquestionably, would like him to stay. Liverpool sources say the club are relaxed around the situation, while sources close to the player are giving little away.

Wijnaldum, when asked about his contract earlier this week, was similarly cagey. “What would I like? It is difficult to say,” he said. “It depends on what the club wants and how the situation is at that time. We will see.”

He did, of course, admit that Anfield was “like home” and if there is any uncertainty surrounding his future, it certainly doesn’t show in his performances. In the league’s most reliable team, he is one of the most reliable of performers. West Ham was his 31st appearance of the season; he has started 23 of 24 league games this term. In his last three completed campaigns, he has played 139 times.

He is also one of Liverpool’s dressing room leaders. When Klopp asked his players to vote on their third and fourth-choice captains last season, it was Wijnaldum and Virgil van Dijk, his fellow Dutchman, who got the gig. Wijnaldum is far from boisterous, leading by actions rather than words. His training level, one Melwood sources insists, is “ridiculous”, while his permanent smile masks a highly competitive nature.

The subtlety and the skill, the reminders of his attacking past, are still there; who could forget the deftness of his lobbed finish against Bournemouth last season, or his ‘see ya’ moment which left three Barcelona players for dead in the Champions League semi-final? Even recently, there was the most comprehensive of nutmegs on Harry Maguire, the world’s most expensive defender.

But goals and assists are not what define him. His game is about everything, not one thing. Statistically he does not dominate any category, but he shows up well in just about every one. He tackles, he intercepts, he runs, he keeps the ball, he wins his battles and, perhaps most crucially, he carries out his manager’s orders.

Liverpool fans will hope he continues to do so for a few more years yet. He might not be the flashiest player in the world, but it’d cost a fortune for the Reds to replace their No.5.