I didn't feel loved and appreciated - Wijnaldum explains Liverpool exit

  Gini Wijnaldum has explained why he left Liverpool, stating he felt unloved by some people at the club and fans on social media. (Photo cr...

 

Gini Wijnaldum has explained why he left Liverpool, stating he felt unloved by some people at the club and fans on social media. (Photo credit: GOAL)

Gini Wijnaldum left Liverpool earlier in the window and signed on a free for PSG, this happened after he already agreed terms with Barcelona, in what you can call “Money answers everything”.

The Dutchman has come out to say his refusal to extend at Anfield was down to the fact that he never felt loved and appreciated by some at the club. Wijnaldum (30) was instrumental to Liverpool’s Champions League triumph as well as their title winning 2019/20 season.

"There was a moment when I didn't feel loved and appreciated," he told reporters. "Not my teammates, not the people at Melwood [training ground].

"From them I know, I can say they all love me and I love them. It was not from that side. More the other side."

"I have to say also there was social media," he added. "When it went bad, I was the player who they blamed -- that I wanted to leave. Every day in training and in the games, I gave everything I had to bring it to a good end because, during the years, Liverpool meant so much to me and because of the way the fans in the stadium were treating me.

"My feeling was that the fans in the stadium and the fans on social media were two different kinds. The fans in the stadium always supported me. Even when they came back [after the COVID-19 break], already knowing that I was going to leave, they still supported me and, in the end, they gave me a great farewell.

"On social media, if we lost, I was the one who got the blame. There was a moment when I was like: 'Wow. If they only knew what I was doing to stay fit and play every game.'

"Other players might have said: 'OK, I am not fit.' You get players in their last year who are like: 'I'm not playing because it is a risk.' I did the opposite."

The midfielder was given a guard of honor by his teammates and members of the backroom staff in Liverpool’s final game of the season where they beat Crystal Palace 2-0 to book their place in next season’s champions league.