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Mauricio Pochettino says £27m midfielder ‘needs more time to adjust’ after departing Liverpool for PSG


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Soccer Football - Paris St Germain Training - Ooredoo Training Centre, Saint-Germain-En-Laye, France - September 10, 2021 Paris St Germain's Georginio Wijnaldum and Mauro Icardi during training REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

This summer saw a quiet window overall for the Reds, with only one new addition in the form of Ibrahima Konaté.

Despite a number of players linked with the club, no further signings were made.

Not only this, but a number of players also left the club, including some important members of the squad.

The likes of Georginio Wijnaldum, Harry Wilson, Xherdan Shaqiri, and Marko Grujic all left the club.

One of the biggest departures was Dutchman Wijnaldum, with him leaving a big hole in the club’s midfield.

Having left the club on a free transfer to PSG, Wijnaldum had become one of Jurgen Klopp’s most important players.

However, despite the club handling his absence well so far, his time at Paris hasn’t quite gone to plan yet.

In a recent interview, PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino was asked about how the Dutchman has settled in so far.

As reported by Liverpool Echo, Pochettino admitted that he is struggling with the lack of preparation.

The summer saw Wijnaldum take charge of the Netherlands at the delayed Euro 2020 tournament.

With that came only a few weeks of pre-season with the Ligue 1 giants to prepare for this coming season.

“Then, there is an important thing to know: any transfer corresponds to a new sporting situation but also family, human, and this impacts any player arriving at the club especially without the pre-season preparation period.

“Indeed, the latter is not only used to work on the automatisms, the physique, and the tactics of a player, it is also used to allow the installation of the family.”.

Mauricio Pochettino on Georginio Wijnaldum since joining PSG

It is clear that Pochettino is very understanding of Wijnaldum’s current situation and the pressure he may be under.

He left the Reds in hot form and the lack of time to integrate into his new team is clearly affecting his performances.

Hopefully, the Dutchman can adjust sooner rather than later, with him clearly good enough to become a key player.

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