Georginio Wijnaldum

Georginio Gregion Emile Wijnaldum (born 11 November 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for and captains Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq and the Netherlands national team.

He is noted for his high work-rate and impressive technical ability.

A youth product of Eredivisie side Feyenoord, Wijnaldum became the youngest player ever to represent the club when he made his debut in 2007, and went on to play 134 matches over the course of a five-year spell, winning the KNVB Cup in 2008.

Following his departure from Feyenoord, Wijnaldum spent four seasons at PSV, where he won the KNVB Cup in his first season and the Eredivisie in his last, a season where he also earned the Dutch Footballer of the Year award.

In January 2007, a few weeks after turning 16, Wijnaldum was invited to the first team's training camp in Belek, Turkey, by Feyenoord manager Erwin Koeman.

On 8 April 2007, Wijnaldum made his official debut in Feyenoord's starting line-up in the 4–0 Eredivisie home defeat to Groningen.

At the age of 16 and 148 days, Wijnaldum became the youngest player ever to play in Feyenoord's first team and was chosen Feyenoord's man of the match.

On 2 December 2007, Wijnaldum scored his first Eredivisie goal for Feyenoord, against Heracles Almelo in a 6–0 home win.

In the 2008–09 season, Wijnaldum made his official European debut.

On 18 September 2008, he was named in the starting line-up in the 1–0 UEFA Cup home loss to Kalmar FF.

On 2 October 2008, he scored his first European goal for Feyenoord in the return match over Kalmar FF, which resulted in a 1–2 win and a place in the competition's group stage.

On 6 March 2009, Wijnaldum signed a new contract at Feyenoord which would have kept him at De Kuip until summer 2012.

Wijnaldum is also a full Dutch international, having earned 90 caps since making his debut in 2011, and was a member of the squad which finished third at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and runners-up in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League.

Wijnaldum was born and raised in Rotterdam, South Holland.

When he was six years old, his parents, who are both of Surinamese descent, went through a divorce resulting in his mother moving to Amsterdam.

However, Wijnaldum stayed in Rotterdam and moved in with his grandmother, where he lived for the remainder of his childhood.

In Wijnaldum's younger years, he never showed interest in football.

He never played with a ball or watched football on TV.

His ambition was to become a gymnast or acrobat.

This changed when Wijnaldum's cousin asked him to come to Sparta Rotterdam's opening day with him; then he was invited to the Sparta Rotterdam youth academy and his love for football started to grow slowly.

Wijnaldum has two younger brothers, one of whom, Giliano Wijnaldum, most recently played for Sparta Rotterdam, as well as a half-brother, Rajiv van La Parra, who most recently played for Apollon Smyrnis.

His cousin, Royston Drenthe, was another Feyenoord academy product who most notably played for Real Madrid.

Wijnaldum was formerly known as Georginio Boateng, but following his mother's divorce, he took her maiden name (Wijnaldum).

At age six, Wijnaldum developed himself rapidly at Sparta Rotterdam, winning two championship titles in his first two seasons.

Soon Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord showed interest in the youngster, but Wijnaldum declined all offers: "I didn't watch football on TV and I didn't know any of the first team players of Sparta or any of the top clubs. I only knew the real famous players of Oranje, so the offers didn't impress me much. I had a good time at Sparta, I wanted to stay."

After playing for Sparta Rotterdam for seven seasons and representing the Netherlands at various youth levels, Wijnaldum decided to accept a new Feyenoord offer.

He was convinced playing for Feyenoord was better for his development as a football player and believed in Feyenoord's vision.

At Feyenoord, Wijnaldum joined a successful generation with the likes of Leroy Fer and Luís Pedro.

Wijnaldum stood out as an exceptional talent.

On 27 February 2011, he helped his struggling Feyenoord to a 5–1 demolition of Groningen, scoring four goals.

He scored two goals from open play in the first half and two more from the penalty spot to add his total for the season to eight goals.

On 29 June 2011, the technical director of Feyenoord announced the club had reached a transfer deal for Wijnaldum reported to be worth €5 million with PSV.

On the opening day of the 2011–12 Eredivisie season, Wijnaldum made his debut for PSV in a 3–1 loss against AZ.

On 21 August 2011, Wijnaldum scored his first goal for PSV in a 3–0 victory against ADO Den Haag.

In 2015, Wijnaldum joined Premier League side Newcastle United for £14.5 million, before departing following the club's relegation a year later to join Liverpool in a £23 million deal.

At Liverpool, Wijnaldum took on a role deeper in the midfield than in his previous clubs.

In the 2018–19 season, Wijnaldum scored twice against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final second leg comeback as Liverpool went through 4–3 on aggregate, and he started as the club were victorious in the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final.

In the following season, he played an integral role as Liverpool won the UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and Premier League, the club's first league title in 30 years.

Wijnaldum appeared 237 times in a Liverpool shirt and is often regarded as a club legend who played a major part in Liverpool’s successes over his years at the club.

Wijnaldum signed for French club Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 on a free transfer.