KEY POINTS

  • Wijnaldum is set to join Barcelona on a three-year deal
  • He has agreed to accept a lower salary
  • He is leaving Liverpool as a free agent this summer

FC Barcelona beat Bayern Munich in the race to sign Liverpool FC's Gini Wijnaldum this summer.

A verbal agreement has been reached between Barcelona and Wijnaldum, who is set to sign a contract with the Camp Nou side until 2024, journalist Fabrizio Romano, who has a credible record in transfer markets, wrote in a tweet. Wijnaldum will sign the contract in the next few days and has agreed to accept a lower salary, the same amount as Manchester City's Sergio Aguero.

The 30-year-old Dutchman has not signed an extension with the Reds and is leaving Liverpool on a free transfer. His agent is in Barcelona to finalize the deal with the Camp Nou club and Romano has also confirmed that "there's nothing agreed" with Bayern Munich.

It was earlier reported that Bayern were ahead in the race to sign Wijnaldum but eventually, the player preferred Barcelona as no concrete offer came from the German club, according to soccer news website SBNation.

Apart from the Bundesliga champions, Barcelona have also defeated French giants Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in Wijnaldum's case. It was recently reported that PSG had also contacted Wijnaldum's agent over the player's potential move to Paris for next season.

Since Barcelona are undergoing financial crisis due to the pandemic, the Copa del ray winners are prioritizing free agents at the 2021 summer transfer market, with Aguero, Lyon's Memphis Depay and Manchester City's Eric García, in addition to Wijnaldum, set to move to the Catalan club for free.

Moreover, it is believed that Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman has been keen on signing Wijnaldum and Depay as he knows the duo from his time coaching the Netherlands national team. He shares a great relationship with the two players.

Georginio Wijnaldum (right)blasts over Liverpool's best chance in a 0-0 Champions League quarter-final, second leg draw against Real Madrid
Georginio Wijnaldum (right) joined Liverpool in the summer of 2016. AFP / Paul ELLIS

Wijnaldum tasted much success at Liverpool since his $35 million-move from Newcastle to the Merseyside in 2016. While Liverpool had an injury-hit 2020-21 season, Wijnaldum was one of the constants for the Reds. He made 44 starts for Jurgen Klopp's side this season and featured in every Premier League game since the start of the 2020-21 campaign. Overall, he scored 22 goals and provided 16 assists for Liverpool, including two goals in the memorable semi-final win over Barcelona at Anfield in 2019.

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