Paulo Dybala, Nemanja Matić, Zeki Celik and Georginio Wijnaldum are the most prominent signings for AS Roma so far. Jose Mourinho put pressure to the club’s board and they delivered. The current squad, along with the new signings should be aiming for fourth place in Serie A and the Champions League, especially after Napoli hasn’t strengthened enough this July. And out of the current four ‘bigger’ signings, Georginio Wijnaldum is the most complete one. 🎶 GINI WIJNALDUM 🎶#ASRoma | @GWijnaldum pic.twitter.com/aAn8744ixh— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) August 7, 2022 Unlike unexperienced Celik, or often injured Dybala or aged Matic, the 31-year-old Dutchman was among the first 11 at Liverpool and has the Champions League and the Premier League titles under his belt. He is coming to make a difference in a fairly young Roma squad and the Dutchman is excited about the move. In his first press conference after signing, Wijnaldum admitted he asked his fellow teammates Mohamed Salah and Kevin Strootman about Jose Mourinho’s club. Salah spent two seasons in Roma (2015-2017) and scored 34 goals in 83 appearances before he went back to England. “I wanted to come because of the effort the club made to sign me and because I spoke to Mo Salah and Kevin Strootman about the club and the city and I only heard good stories about it. I also spoke to Achraf Hakimi, even if he played for Inter, he said that Roma is a beautiful club. That convinced me a lot also because I knew the club. We played once with Liverpool and the atmosphere was amazing, I knew I’d play for a club with beautiful supporters, it was the only thing that I knew. What convinced me the most was the effort Tiago Pinto put in to sign me. I felt wanted and appreciated and that made me make the decision“ said the Dutchman. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6557040##Unlike some other players, Roma coach Jose Mourinho didn’t have to call Wijnaldum personally to convince him to join the club. „We didn’t really have a conversation where he said ‘you have to come here’ because there was already negotiations between the clubs and I had already spoken with some players about it. When we spoke he thanked me because I wanted to come to Rome, we spoke about that and about football. Mourinho as a manager speaks for himself, the trophies he’s won and the club he’s coached. It’s unbelievable. Every player wants to work with him and so do I. From the moment I spoke to him, I knew I wanted to come, but I had already decided before” admitted Gino. Like a crocodile out of the water, Wijnaldum emerges a Roma playerIf there are doubts about his playing qualities, (especially after he failed to impress at PSG), Roma fans could only look at the statements of his former coach at Liverpool Jurgen Klopp, who called him „a perfect midfielder“. “It’s always difficult to say what’s the perfect midfielder. Maybe I was for Liverpool, but I understand that things can be different for another team. I think everyone has an opinion about what the perfect midfielder is, but if a manager like Klopp says it, of course, I am happy“ said the Dutch international.
