Ex-Liverpool star issues transfer warning to Wijnaldum

The Dutch midfielder will be out of contract at the end of the season and appears set to leave Anfield as a free agent.

Ryan Babel has warned his fellow Dutchman Georginio Wijnaldum that leaving Liverpool was the ‘biggest regret’ of his career.

The 30-year-old is out of contract in the summer and is yet to agree on an extension, implying he may be set to end a productive five-year spell with the Premier League champions once the 2020/21 campaign ends.

Wijnaldum’s former Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman, who now coaches Barcelona, was keen to take him to Camp Nou in the last transfer window. He may attempt to entice him again over this year.

But Babel, who played at Anfield between 2007 and 2011, has suggested Wijnaldum could be better off resisting lure of joining another European heavyweight in favor of extending his Reds career.

The 34-year-old Galatasaray forward told the Mirror: “I spent almost four years at Liverpool under Rafa Benitez and Kenny Dalglish. When I left to go and play in Germany, where TSG Hoffenheim had become a big force, it was to become the biggest regret of my career.

“The only reason I left was because I wanted to have more playing minutes to keep my place in the Holland team, but you don’t realise how dominating the playing style is at Liverpool until you play in a different team and league.

“I was brought up with really attacking football at Ajax. In the academy, you learn to play that way. When I moved to Liverpool, it was exactly the same. It is in the DNA of the club to play attacking football.”