PROUD Georginio Wijnaldum made an emotional farewell to Liverpool and said: Thanks for the trophies and the memories.
The £25million Liverpool midfielder is out of contract this summer and played his last match for the club after five years and 22 goals in 237 appearances.
Though he is set to appear for Holland at the Euros, he doesn’t know his club destination for next season.
Post-match, he was given a special ‘Champions Wall’ plaque and received a guard of honour from team-mates.
Wijnaldum, 30, said: “I’m fighting against tears right now.
“The people in Liverpool have shown me love during the five years. I will miss them.
“I hope to have played many more years for the club but unfortunately things went different. I have to start a new adventure.
“I knew I went to a big club. I remember that I was sitting in the living room and the manager said when I come to Liverpool we would win prizes.
“I am happy it went that will. It would have been really painful to leave the club without any.
“It’s really special. Since I’ve joined the fans have sung my name. Week-in, week-out they saw I was giving 100% to give everything for this club.
“That’s what the supporters want to see and that’s what they appreciate from me. It is something I’m going to miss.”
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Wijnaldum had a decorated spell – he won the Premier League, Champions League, Uefa Super Cup and Fifa Club World Cup under Klopp – and he signed-off by helping Liverpool finish in the top four once again.
He said: “This was really important. Normally you want to leave on a high winning something.
“Unfortunately this season it was not possible but I’m happy I can leave the club behind in the Champions League.
“I didn’t sign somewhere else. Everyone knows in football everything can happen. The situation is right now that on 1 July I am not a Liverpool player.
“We will see what I will do in the next couple of weeks.
“I will rest a little bit then go to the national team. I will have to look at my story and how everything went. The fans deserve to know the story behind it.”
Wijnaldum has also pledged to return to Anfield as a fan, declaring himself a ‘Liverpool supporter for life’.
And Klopp had plenty of nice things to stay about the Dutch midfielder when speaking to the club’s website after the Palace match.
The German manager said: “He [Wijnaldum] 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.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
