OPINION
For all the praise that the likes of Liverpool stars Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and even Jordan Henderson get, midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum often gets lost in the shuffle.
However, the Dutchman is one of the most important players the Reds have, and is criminally underrated. We saw that borne out once again on Thursday, as his country defeated England 3-1 in their Nations League semi-final clash.
The Liverpool fans were surely in awe of the performance he produced against the Three Lions, just five days after helping Jurgen Klopp’s team win the Champions League.
The 28-year-old produced another sterling effort in Portugal, helping Ronald Koeman’s side win the midfield battle and dictate the pace of the game. He showed no ill effects from his involvement in the Champions League final, as he scampered around like his normal, reliable self.
This sort of display is surely why Klopp loves him so much. Wijnaldum is one of those rare midfielders who seamlessly combines technical excellence with peerless work rate. He has evolved into more of a deeper-lying midfielder this campaign, and has used that position to elevate himself into world class status.
There’s no doubt that he is now one of the finest central midfielders in the Premier League and in world football as a whole. He bossed the English midfield trio on Thursday, along with the imperious Frenkie de Jong and the Atalanta star Marten de Roon.
Once again the underrated Liverpool star underlined his status as one of world football’s forgotten stars. He was a joy to watch on Thursday and the Reds are lucky to have him.
