Georginio Wijnaldum will reportedly reject Bayern Munich’s advances in order to join Barcelona before turning his attentions to Euro 2020.
Wijnaldum will leave Liverpool as a free agent next month and has previously held ‘positive talks’ with Bayern about a move to the Bundesliga.
However, according to Dutch news outlet De Telegraaf, Wijnaldum will instead choose to join the Catalan giants in order to link back up with Ronald Koeman and potentially Memphis Depay, who has also been linked with a move.
The report goes on the claim that Wijnaldum’s agent, Humphrey Nijman, and legal advisor, Jan Kabalt, are currently at the Nou Camp finalising details on a three-year deal, which will keep him at the club until the summer of 2024.
A cash-strapped Barca will not have to pay a transfer fee for Wijnaldum, either, given that his contract with the Reds expires at the end of June.
The 30-year-old is now looking to finalise his move in the coming days so he can turn his attentions back to next month’s European Championship, where he is expected to captain Holland.
It comes just days after the midfielder was given an emotional farewell in front of thousands of returning Liverpool fans at Anfield on Sunday.
The former Newcastle man admitted to ‘fighting back tears’ as he was given a guard of honour and presented with a framed pictured of Liverpool’s Champions Wall of trophies after playing his last game for the club.
‘It’s really special. The fans have sung my name. Week-in, week-out they saw I was giving 100 per cent to give everything for this club,’ he said after the Palace match.
‘That’s what the supporters want to see and that’s what they appreciate from me. It is something I’m going to miss.
‘I’m fighting against tears right now. The people in Liverpool have shown me love during the five years. I will miss them, you know.
‘I knew I went to a big club. I remember that I was sitting in the living room and the manager said when I come to Liverpool we would win prizes. I am happy it went that well. It would have been really painful to leave the club without any.
‘We will see what I will do in the next couple of weeks. I will rest a little bit then go to the national team. I will have to look at my story and how everything went. The fans deserve to know the story behind it.’
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