Liverpool have signed midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum from Newcastle United in a £25million deal.
The Netherlands international has signed a five-year contract, with Liverpool paying an initial £23m, with a further £2m in conditional add-ons.
Wijnaldum will travel to California to join his new team-mates on their tour of the United States this weekend.
The 25-year-old is manager Jurgen Klopp’s seventh signing of the summer, following Loris Karius, Joel Matip, Marko Grujic, Sadio Mane, Ragnar Klavan and Alex Manninger to Anfield.
He scored 11 goals in 38 league appearances in his maiden season in England, however Newcastle could not avoid relegation to the Championship.
On the prospect of working with Klopp, Wijnaldum said: “[He seems] a great man – from the outside – because I don’t know how he works yet and I have to work with him.
”I always love to watch him, his passion as a trainer, I like how he enjoys the game. He gives something back to the group (with his passion) so I look forward to working with him.“
Klopp is also keen to start working with the Dutchman, which is why he is flying out almost immediately to join the rest of the squad.
”I think he can be a great player for us,“ the Reds coach enthused.
”He has already shown some really good moments in his career but the most exciting and important thing for me and my staff is that there is still so much extra to come from him.
“When I talked to him I could tell that he knows we have to work together to get this level out of him to all be successful for the team.
”He has played a lot for his country already, been captain at a young age in Holland and also been involved in a tough Premier League season so this experience gives him a good foundation for the challenge here – which everybody knows is huge.
“He can play a few positions for us and players that come through the Dutch system usually have a good tactical understanding and flexibility. That’s really important.
”I can’t wait to get him on the training pitch and for the fans to see him play in a Liverpool shirt.“
Liverpool begin their Premier League campaign at Arsenal on 14 August, and face Chelsea, Milan, Roma, Barcelona and Mainz in friendlies before the big kick-off.
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