Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits losing Gini Wijnaldum in the summer is a blow.
The Dutchman and the club’s board could not find common ground on the length of a new contract or his salary.
Now he is a free agent and can sign for any club in the world.
The Reds closed out their season with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, finishing third in the Premier League.
![[FILE] Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah (L) runs with the ball as Arsenal’s Brazilian defender Gabriel closes in during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in London. (Photo by Catherine Ivill / POOL / AFP)](https://www.afriupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/000_97B779-scaled-e1703231851386-120x86.jpg "Liverpool host Arsenal in battle for Premier League Christmas No. 1 1")
Asked about Wjinaldum, Klopp said, per the club website: “Where can I start? I met this wonderful player for the first time – we played, obviously, against him, and the first time I met him was in my living room at home because I had see to him and talk to him.
“From the first moment it clicked between us. He is a very friendly, very smart, very open person, and that never changed, that just improved.
“Yes, it is very emotional for me because I lose a friend and I will miss him, that’s how it is. But it’s normal in football that these kind of things happen – it’s not always nice, but normal, and I am really sure he will find a great place.
“Each club who is interested in him should call me and ask about him. Then you will take him, definitely, because I could not be more positive about what he did here. It’s incredible.
“He was not only always available, he played 90 per cent of the time really, really good. People might not know exactly what I mean with ‘good’ because sometimes it’s not that spectacular.
“Sometimes it’s that, but from a young kid he was an offensive No.10, to a winger at Newcastle, to coming here and becoming such a controlling midfielder. That’s a massive step and you only can do that when you understood the game, really, in the right way.
“He scored incredibly important goals: Barcelona, Cardiff I think was very, very important, Middlesbrough was very important. So many top, top-class performances.
“Now, it looks like the time is over but everything will be fine and nobody can take our memories from us. We will share them forever and that’s really great.
“I told him that after the game, he sees it the same way and the goodbye would not be tough if the time you had together was not worth it. So, it’s really tough because we had a great time together.”
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