Why Iraola wants to sign “Wijnaldum-esque” £38m midfielder for Liverpool

Liverpool need to make sweeping summer changes, and while it would be all well and good that FSG could oversee five or six marquee moves, we saw last season that such a strategy does not necessarily constitute success.

Last summer, Liverpool spent over £400m in an ambitious gambit to cement their position at the top of English and European football. It failed. Record signings Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz recorded C- seasons at best, and Liverpool have since sacked Arne Slot.

But Slot did scrape together enough points to secure a fifth-place Premier League finish for Liverpool, and that proved enough to earn a ticket back into the Champions League.

Many changes are needed once again, but the Reds need to avoid the same mistakes as before.

Why Liverpool need to think shrewdly this summer

There was possibly a lack of nuance throughout Liverpool’s 2025 transfer window, and that needs to change this summer.

In fairness, Andoni Iraola‘s incipient system has steered toward that plane already, with a £34.5m deal for Osasuna winger Victor Munoz carrying within it a very Liverpool-like feel. Does that make sense? This is a young and talented forward with bundles of potential, but if he is to become a superstar, the Reds shall have to create one themselves.

Liverpool are still aiming for the stars, of course. Mohamed Salah plays for Liverpool no more, and while an ambitious effort to sign RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande has fallen flat, FSG are still in for the likes of Bradley Barcola, who Paris Saint-Germain have valued at £128m.

There are further holes to be plugged, especially in midfield. Both Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch flattered to deceive last season, and Liverpool’s engine room was saved only by the unwavering intensity of Dominik Szoboszlai, Anfield’s Player of the Year.

Mac Allister, 27, looks shorn of confidence and the robustness that characterised his first two years on Merseyside, and noise has boomed around his possible future, his possible sale this summer.

If Liverpool are to replace him, why not be clever about it? Why not think outside the box, and not spend £116m on Elliot Anderson, as Manchester City have done? Why not avoid the £100m payment Tottenham needed to make to sign Sandro Tonali, he who struggled for form with Newcastle last season?

Why not, instead, adopt the mindset that served Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool so well in the past, and make a signing that echoes the one-time deal for Gini Wijnaldum?

Why Liverpool must sign their new Wijnaldum

Wijnaldum was the glue that held Liverpool together way back when, an underrated linchpin at the heart of Klopp’s super-team. He joined from Newcastle for £20m, way back in 2015; the Magpies had been relegated, and Liverpool spied an opportunity to make something happen.

Now, they repeat the same trick by signing Joao Gomes from Wolverhampton Wanderers, with the Brazilian midfielder having been relegated form the top flight last term.

That’s according to Brazilian outlet Globo, claiming that the Reds have already been in contact with the relevant representatives after Gomes’ proposed transfer to Atletico Madrid fell through.

Manchester United are also on the case, and that’s something to watch out for now that their bid to sign Ederson from Atalanta has collapsed, but Liverpool could complete this deal for just £38m, and it would be a shrewd deal indeed, a repeat of former successes at Anfield.

Regarded as “the Pitbull” for his aggressive, unflinching qualities in the middle of the park, Gomes is the real deal. A territorial midfielder, he is exactly the kind of player Liverpool have been missing, winning 6.5 duels per game in the Premier League last term while completing 64% of his dribbles.

Journalist Bence Bocsak believes it would be “a bit of a Wijnaldum-esque move” for Iraola’s side, waxing lyrical about the Brazilian’s expert duelling ability, his press-resistance and his intensity both on the ball and against the flow of play.

The fact that Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk were among the most active duellers in the Premier League last season tells you all you need to know about how heavily under the cosh the Reds were.

Gomes would fix that, providing Iraola with a physical ball of kinetic energy, crackling across the midfield, winning the ball back and initiating attacking sequences.

He knows adversity, having suffered with the Old Gold, but Gomes also has an underrated ball-playing game and a deep-rooted determination that could be invaluable for a transitional Liverpool side, who need such a counterbalance to enable the attackers and reinforce the backline.

Wijnaldum often worked in the subheadings for Liverpool, steering beneath the headlines, but he was instrumental for Klopp’s system, one-of-a-kind.

Now, Gomes can be the second coming, a player who could make such a difference for an ambitious Liverpool side.