Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum is closing in on a free transfer to Bayern Munich once his contract at Anfield expires this summer.
The Netherlands international announced at the weekend that he would indeed be departing Liverpool after a season of intense speculation regarding his future.
For much of the year, it appeared as though he would be heading to Barcelona, but Sky Sports in Germany report that Bayern are in advanced talks with the midfielder.
The Bundesliga champions first made contact with Wijnaldum a few weeks ago, but he wanted to give his full attention to ending the season strongly at Liverpool. Now that the campaign is over, talks have accelerated and he is close to joining Die Roten from the Reds.
90min reported back in March that Jurgen Klopp was unhappy that one of his most valuable players was leaving for free, pleading with the Liverpool board to ensure Wijnaldum stayed at the club beyond the end of his current deal.
It's believed that Wijnaldum had in fact reached a verbal agreement with Barcelona over a free transfer to Camp Nou, but any deal may have hinged on the future of manager Ronald Koeman. The former Netherlands boss admitted recently that he doesn't know if he'll be managing the Blaugrana next season.
Wijnaldum is bringing to an end a five-year spell at Liverpool, where he made 236 appearances and scored 22 goals.
He'll be most fondly remembered for his brace against Barça in the semi-finals of the 2018/19 Champions League, scoring a brace as Liverpool wiped out a 3-0 first-leg deficit to advance to the final.
Wijnaldum leaves Anfield having helped the Reds conquer England, Europe and the world, and looks set to be one of Julian Nagelsmann's first signings as Bayern boss.
Source : 90min