Georginio Wijnaldum has revealed that he often forgets how big Liverpool are as a club and was reminded after their Champions League win over Tottenham last month.
The Dutch midfielder played just over an hour for the Reds in their final triumph, having played a huge role from the bench in their famous 4-0 second leg demolition of Barcelona in the semi-final, where he scored twice.
Speaking to Liverpool's official website, Wijnaldum explained: ''It's a really big club. Everywhere you go people know Liverpool. On my vacation a lot of people came to me and congratulated me for the Champions League.
''Sometimes you don't realise how big the club is; the club is in Europe but even when you travel abroad to Asia or America you see how big the club is because a lot of people support Liverpool and a lot of people know the club.''
The 28-year-old also emphasised that the desire to repeat the feeling of success was motivation for the upcoming season, also revealing that he's looking forward to the return of long-term injury absentees Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
''Because I know how it feels right now, I want it again," Wijnaldum continued.
''We already knew they were quality players but unfortunately they were injured last season and had more or less their own programme.
"But before they got injured we knew how good they are. The manager said they are like new players and it's also (the same) for us. We're going to add their quality to the squad so it's going to be even better than before.''
Having played in the UEFA Nations League this summer for the Netherlands, Wijnaldum was given an extended break to recover. However, the former Newcastle man claims that he couldn't wait to return to training.
He concluded: ''Especially at the end. It was a good vacation I had. I had a lot more days than the years before. You always look forward to coming back and especially because we won the Champions League, you want more this season. So you're really hungry to start.''
Source : 90min