Georginio Wijnaldum

[Buzzo]

You'll get branded a cheap skate

I can live with that.

And thanks Redreet

[Shaggy]

Cheers

[RedReet]

There is an old story about the way contracts were handled at Liverpool, one which details a clever trick, laying bare the smart thinking which helped the club stay ahead of the game.

In the limey corridors of Anfield’s main stand, players were asked to wait outside the manager’s office after initial discussions. Many recall their disappointment with the financial incentives presented to them by the former secretary, Peter Robinson, who prided himself on his thriftiness. He also knew Liverpool were Liverpool and their reputation alone could afford to bring the ones they really wanted their way.

That is when the manager would wander past and promise he’d have a word with Robinson and squeeze a bit more money out of him.

“Tight bugger,” Bill Shankly would tut, or Bob Paisley after him.

Swiftly, either of those managers would return having fulfilled his promise and instantly the player was more on his side than he was before. “A clever trick,” Michael Robinson called the secretary’s low-balling decades after signing from Brighton & Hove Albion having taken a pay cut to still become one of the club’s highest-paid players.

Each manager until Graeme Souness used this role-play to their advantage. Souness, however, thought Robinson was uncomfortable in dealing with the increasing sums of money sloshing about in the early Premier League years as well as the new demands of players seeking more lucrative wages. But his decision to take on the concern of negotiating himself backfired. Players that were once his team-mates thought he was being tight and turned on him, in some cases deciding to leave for better contracts elsewhere.

Souness’s successor, Roy Evans, tended to leave financials to Robinson and when Robinson retired, the same dynamic existed between his successor Rick Parry and Gerard Houllier. Rafa Benitez went more the way of Souness, with Jamie Carragher remembering how Benitez used to try to convince him to take less money because he was raised locally and this meant his accountability was at a civic level. Meanwhile, Benitez reasoned he wanted more freedom within the confines within a rigid wage structure.

Only in the last few years does it feel like a balance of responsibilities relating to this process has been found again, with the secretary turned chief executive’s role in football matters restricted if not altogether cancelled and a sporting director in Michael Edwards liaising with agents and clubs in his place. This leaves Jurgen Klopp to work the head of the player.

One of the most significant features of this Liverpool team is the security on which it is built, with all but one of its players tied to long-term contracts. Other than a yearning for new cultural experiences, there is no longer a sporting reason to go elsewhere.

The anomaly in that theme is Georginio Wijnaldum, a key midfielder who has started 23 of the 24 league games in this outrageous season. Had there been a greater distance in the sequence of fixtures involving Everton, Bournemouth and Red Bull Salzburg in December, he’d most probably be an ever-present in what is so far in terms of points been the most relentless title quest of any era.

At regular intervals in the comfortable victory over West Ham United at the London Stadium last night, Wijnaldum was in Klopp’s technical area absorbing commands from a manager who clearly trusts him.

A guardian of information, Wijnaldum replaced Lucas Leiva as the player who is able to process instructions quickly and pass them around with clear direction. At other clubs, it is usually the captain who assists with this but Klopp knows he has someone who understands most positions well having played almost everywhere since joining in the summer of 2016. Ultimately, Wijnaldum’s versatility and experience helps with the speed at which knowledge spreads.

Wijnaldum was still there after all was settled in Liverpool’s favour once again, embracing with Klopp in front of the travelling supporters, the pair surely appreciating the title is closer than it has ever been.

To have any chance of erasing Liverpool’s 19-point lead at the top of the table, Manchester City now at the very least need their rivals to lose seven of their remaining 14 games. Considering Liverpool have only lost seven league games in total since April 2017, a successful pursuit even with four months of the campaign remaining seems impossible.

Wijnaldum’s importance is undeniable even though it is not always obvious.

It is a shame for him that there is no statistic for shielding the ball under immense pressure and squeezing himself out of tight corners because if there was, he’d surely be ranked at the top of any data table. His presence has been consistent as it has been significant to Liverpool’s story since arriving from Newcastle United and yet, the 29-year old’s contract is closest of any of Liverpool’s senior players to running out, with his five-year deal ending in 2021.

Wijnaldum’s current deal places him in the third rung in Liverpool’s wage structure, behind Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker at the very top of that pyramid and assorted others just below, including club captain Jordan Henderson who, for example, has featured in fewer Champions League games this season.

A challenge in the discussions from here from Wijnaldum’s perspective could be timing. He will enter his 30s in November and this complicates things given the natural physical decline in most players, though Wijnaldum is recognised as one of the fittest in Liverpool’s squad.

Privately, the club are comfortable about the course of dialogue between Edwards and the tough-talking agent Humphrey Nijman but that is mainly because of the strength of Klopp and Wijnaldum’s relationship. It sounds, indeed, like there is distance still to run before Edwards and Nijman reach an agreement — though both parties remind that priorities between now and May will be on the pitch.

Meanwhile, conversations between Klopp and Wijnaldum continue separately and Klopp is happy for the club’s fourth-choice captain to explore his options through his representatives, mainly because that is how he has always approached such situations, believing it can often help a player subconsciously sharpen his understanding of what he already has.

Klopp’s hand is stronger now than it has ever been at any of his clubs and he realises Wijnaldum recognises this, a player who is perceptive enough to realise the consequences of the decisions of those before him, like the one made by Emre Can in January 2018 and where that led – in Can’s case seemingly, Borussia Dortmund was not where he necessarily wanted to be by January 2020.

Klopp is watching, listening and chipping away; trying to ensure that Wijnaldum knows how much he is valued. What motivates him the most, apparently, is the pursuit of trophies and, more than ever, Klopp appreciates he and Liverpool can help satisfy such desire.

The way they are going, who would really want to miss out on the next few years at least?

(Photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

[Norbs]

If only we knew someone who subscribes to the Athletic...

You'll get branded a cheap skate

[Buzzo]

If only we knew someone who subscribes to the Athletic...

[Shaggy]

[ame]https://twitter.com/JamesPearceLFC/status/1222895185434013699[/ame]

[SB]

Don't think he did and he also celebrated the Salah goal. So all in all, it was probably just a knock but the intensity of the game didn't give him time to run it off and Klopp made the choice to act.

That's how I read it anyway even though some people still think he was frustrated with playing time and it was a tactical substitution.

Cheers Maxi. I naturally assumed it was frustration from being subbed again.

[Cormack74]

Scanned the match thread on red cafe and even those **** wits seemed to rate him.

Certainly more than they rate Maguire, JLinz, Lindelof etc etc

Maybe they're not **** wits after all.

[Maxiedge]

Did he get iced when he came off? I looked for him after the final whistle went but didn’t spot him.

Don't think he did and he also celebrated the Salah goal. So all in all, it was probably just a knock but the intensity of the game didn't give him time to run it off and Klopp made the choice to act.

That's how I read it anyway even though some people still think he was frustrated with playing time and it was a tactical substitution.

[SB]

I actually think people have the wrong end of the stick here. He was limping a bit after a challenge around the 55 minute mark and looked like he had aggravated the ankle injury again.

Did he get iced when he came off? I looked for him after the final whistle went but didn’t spot him.

[danperkins]

I thought first half Chamberlain was hardly in it barring the odd tackle here and there. For 20 minutes 2nd half I thought he did really well in his closing down and going beyond their midfield. He had just started to fade when he was brought off, he looked well pissed off though

my thoughts exactly. I thought it would be a good substitution myself but Lallana struggled with the pace of the game. Tough game to come into I suppose.

[Maxiedge]

I thought first half Chamberlain was hardly in it barring the odd tackle here and there. For 20 minutes 2nd half I thought he did really well in his closing down and going beyond their midfield. He had just started to fade when he was brought off, he looked well pissed off though

I actually think people have the wrong end of the stick here. He was limping a bit after a challenge around the 55 minute mark and looked like he had aggravated the ankle injury again.

[Lecter]

yeah agree with this Ox struggled, bit better in 2nd half and was driving through that midfield until he came off. Personally I thought that sub killed our momentum and Lallana just couldn't get up to speed with the game. Can see why Ox is frustrated but he's just not there yet.

Gini is just an incredible athlete, so strong and simply doesn't get the credit he deserves he is a world class CM, I would devastated if we lost him. Hopefully we offer him a new bumper contract which he thoroughly deserves.

I thought first half Chamberlain was hardly in it barring the odd tackle here and there. For 20 minutes 2nd half I thought he did really well in his closing down and going beyond their midfield. He had just started to fade when he was brought off, he looked well pissed off though

[danperkins]

Felt like he had a very different role today, with United trying to shut down our full backs again. Him and Ox were given a lot more freedom to attack rather than cover. We haven't quite worked it entirely and I thought Ox struggled to get into the game at times. Definitely something we'll see more of against teams like 352.

yeah agree with this Ox struggled, bit better in 2nd half and was driving through that midfield until he came off. Personally I thought that sub killed our momentum and Lallana just couldn't get up to speed with the game. Can see why Ox is frustrated but he's just not there yet.

Gini is just an incredible athlete, so strong and simply doesn't get the credit he deserves he is a world class CM, I would devastated if we lost him. Hopefully we offer him a new bumper contract which he thoroughly deserves.

[SB]

He fills me with confidence even when he’s in difficult situations hey. An absolute Rolls Royce of a player.