Newcastle United are reportedly eyeing up a shock return for Gini Wijnaldum.
The Lowdown: Memories…
The 31-year-old is a player who went on to great things when he left St James’ Park, winning both the Premier League and Champions League with Liverpool, but the Toon Army will still remember his time in the northeast fondly.
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The Netherlands international managed to score 11 goals and supply a further five assists from midfield as he played in every single game of their 2015/16 top-flight season (Transfermarkt), but unfortunately the team could not do enough to avoid relegation to the Championship, which is ultimately a big reason why he left after just one season on Tyneside.
After moving to Anfield, Magpies saw just how good of a player that they lost, as former Liverpool and Newcastle player John Barnes dubbed him ‘fantastic’ at the back end of the 2017/18 term. Wijnaldum became a regular starter in the team which clinched Champions League qualification and scored in their semi-final second leg away to AS Roma to settle nerves and help them reach the final of that competition against Real Madrid.
The Latest: Return?
As per TEAMtalk, Newcastle are eyeing a shock return for Wijnaldum, who is now at Paris Saint-Germain, as they are ‘keeping tabs’ on his situation in France.
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They have reportedly ‘made it clear’ that they would be interested in signing the 31-year-old, should he be made available by the Ligue 1 leaders.
The Verdict: Get him in
Wijnaldum would certainly be a popular signing among many Magpies fans given his last spell with them; and being involved in a relegation battle at the time, he would no doubt be up for putting things right if he gets a second chance to do so.
The experience that he has now gathered from playing at the highest level with both Liverpool and PSG would be so useful in the St James’ Park dressing room, as Eddie Howe’s squad needs to have players with a winning mentality around them to get them out of the mess in which they currently find themselves.
On the pitch, he has the quality too, emphasised by his two goals and subsequent placement in a Champions League Team of the Week this season (SofaScore).
Wijnaldum and Newcastle seems like a good fit, providing that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium can get a deal done.
In other news, NUFC are ‘in the running’ for this £126.2m-rated beast
