Barcelona's Target, Gini Wijnaldum Opens Up About Liverpool’s 7-2 Humiliating Loss

Liverpool FC midfielder Gini Wijnaldum has said that the defending champions must move on as quickly as possible after their humiliating 7-2 loss to Aston Villa in the Premier League Sunday.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a friendly match between Netherlands and Mexico in Amsterdam, Wijnaldum, who played full 90 minutes against Aston Villa, described it as "painful" and said that the team must learn from it.

"We have to go on with that. Of course, it was a painful experience that we are not accustomed to in Liverpool. But it happened and we have to learn from it. Now I am here and hopefully, we will achieve good results and simply go on with it," the 29-year-old midfielder said during the press conference.

It was the first time since 1963 Liverpool conceded seven goals in a league game, a performance that was termed as the worst under Jurgen Klopp’s tenure by Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher.

Wijnaldum, who has just 10 months left in his current contract with Liverpool, was also quizzed about the recent rumors that had linked the Netherlands midfielder to FC Barcelona. While it was understood that Liverpool would cash in on their talented midfielder, it looks like Wijnaldum will see out his contract with the Anfield side, now that the summer transfer market has ended.

"I don’t think [the Barcelona interest] was that serious, otherwise you would have read a bit more, or more would have happened. There was nothing concrete. I didn’t have to think about it. I will stay on [with Liverpool] it looks like now. My contract will run for another 10 months. It could still change, of course, you never know that in football. So, we’ll see," Wijnaldum said in the same press conference.

Barcelona’s new head coach Ronald Koeman, who was Wijnaldum's former national coach, is believed to be keen on signing his compatriot at Nou Camp.

Liverpool signed Thiago Alcantara at $35 million from Bayern Munich and the Spaniard is expected to compete with Wijnaldum for the starting spot in The Reds’ line-up. However, Wijnaldum, who has made 192 competitive appearances for Liverpool since he arrived from Newcastle in 2016 at $32 million, has started in all the four Premier League matches in the ongoing 2020-21 campaign.