In an interview with Dutch outlet AD, ex-Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman has said that had it not been for the personal vendetta that president Joan Laporta and his board of directors had towards him, then Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum would’ve been a Barcelona player today.
The opportunity arose when the Dutchman reached the end of his contract with Liverpool in the summer of 2021. Koeman, who had previously worked with Wijnaldum at the Netherlands national team, was a big fan of the player and had personally requested Laporta and his board to try to sign the player.
The negotiations were lengthy and took a long time, but it got to a point where it seemed like the player arriving to Camp Nou would only be a matter of time. However, things took a quick U-turn as Paris Saint-Germain ended up securing his services and the Dutchman even stated that the Catalan giants “took too long in negotiations”, and the French club were “much clearer”.
Echoing similar sentiments during his interview, Koeman suggested that the Barcelona president wanted to annoy him instead of getting him his desired signing.
“But I failed because the President (Joan Laporta) wanted to annoy me more than bringing in a player. That delayed the operation and, for that reason, he opted for PSG. Otherwise, he would have played for Barcelona,”
he said.
Wijnaldum has also endured a torrid spell on the pitch since moving from Liverpool to Paris last year. He failed to establish himself in the PSG starting XI and fell out of favour with then-manager Mauricio Pochettino. In his first season in France, he played 31 league fixtures, scoring only once.
As a result, he was loaned out to Italian giants AS Roma back in August, but Wijnaldum suffered a tibia fracture soon after arrival which has kept him out of action since August 22.
