Lionel Messi and Gini Wijnaldum

Gini Wijnaldum’s agent reveals Lionel Messi wanted Barcelona to complete transfer

Gini Wijnaldum’s agent has revealed how Lionel Messi was keen for Barcelona to sign the Netherlands star.

Wijnaldum was available for free this summer ahead of his contract at Liverpool coming to an end, and it appeared Barcelona were favourites to get the deal done.

Barca had already snapped up Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia on free deals as they look to strengthen on the cheap this summer amid their financial crisis, and Wijnaldum appeared to be a perfect option to add to that list.

But despite talks progressing, PSG hijacked the deal and wrapped up the signing quickly, leaving Barca to watch on enviously, while even Messi himself was left disappointed having been keen to get the deal done, according to Wijnaldum’s representative Humphry Nijman.

“Gini took it as a great compliment that Messi was so frank about it: he loved that Barcelona were going to complete the signing,” Nijman told the Here We Go Podcast, via Sport.

“We had a couple of conversations with Barcelona and it seemed like it was going very well. We tried to arrive at a deal, but PSG had a big interest.

“Pochettino spoke with him over the type of role he would play in the team and his hopes for him.”

Wijnaldum has signed a three-year deal at PSG, and according to Le Parisian, the midfielder will earn double what he was offered by cash-strapped Barcelona.

The midfielder is currently at Euro 2020 with Netherlands, but he will officially become a PSG player on July 1 after five years at Anfield.

Tags FC Barcelona gini wijnaldum Lionel Messi PSG
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