Liverpool Star Credits Grandmother For Career Success

Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, who is a £25m summer signing from North east club Newcastle United, has lauded his maternal grandmother for his success in the world of football adding that she raised him and always took her to training in Rotterdam at an early age.

Speaking about the impact of his grandma Francina Mayland on his footballing career, the Dutch international said: “When I was five, my mother wanted to leave for another city, Amsterdam. I asked if I could stay with my grandma so I stayed with her from five to 18. She took care of me.”

“We were not rich. We didn’t have a car so we travelled by subway. But there were times when we had to be at training at 7am and it was too early for the subway so she would walk with me.

Although she was old, she was still fit. It was a 45-minute walk to training but she would walk with me, even in winter. She never let me go alone.”

And he listened to her when she ordered him to stop doing backflips in the street and not to let fame go to his head. “She was scared that I might hurt myself and break my neck.
“She told me that always I have to be myself and I am the same person I was before for my friends and family.” he further added.