Former Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum who joined PSG last summer has been voted Ligue 1 Flop Signing of the Year, the Mirror reports.
Wijnaldum struggled to secure a regular role within Mauricio Pochettino’s side, going on to amass just 1,933 minutes of action over 38 appearances, of which only 22 were starts.
This led to Wijnaldum scooping the award of ‘ Ligue 1 Flop Signing of the Year’ by Get French Football News.
With over 100,000 votes combined with the input from an expert panel, Wijnaldum is said to have won the award by some distance.
Beyond the shame of receiving the reward, the midfielder’s disastrous campaign has also led to him dropping out of contention for the Netherlands and his place at the Qatar World Cup looks under real threat.
Few would have predicted such a downturn in form 12 months ago, when Jurgen Klopp labelled him a “manager’s dream”.
Following Wijnaldum’s final appearance for the Reds, the Liverpool boss said: “I will miss the player he is like crazy, highest-quality ability, one of the smartest players I have ever had the privilege to coach. His contribution was off the scale, a manager’s dream.”
The former Newcastle United star departed on a free transfer, with contract issues and claims that he “didn’t feel loved and appreciated” by a section of supporters playing a big role in his decision.
Shortly after the switch, the 31-year-old lifted the lid on some of the difficulties he faced in the final months of his time at the club.
“The media didn’t help. There was a story that Liverpool made an offer, I didn’t accept because I wanted more money and the fans made it like: ‘OK, he didn’t get the offer, so he doesn’t try his best to win games’,” he told The Telegraph.
“Then the results were not really good and everything looked like it was against me. Some moments, it was like: ‘Wow, me again?’.”
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