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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Mark Wakefield

Gini Wijnaldum in 'firing line' as Paris Saint-Germain make Champions League decision

Former Liverpool midfielder Gini Wijnaldum could be in danger of being dropped by Paris Saint-Germain for their Champions League campaign, according to a report.

The ex-Reds star left Anfield last summer to sign for PSG as a free agent following the expiration of his contract.

Wijnaldum called time on five years on Merseyside to move to the French capital.

But things have not gone completely to plan for the Dutchman.

Since signing for PSG, Wijnaldum has made 25 appearances under Mauricio Pochettino, but has made just 11 starts in Ligue 1.

His lack of regular starts led to the Holland international being linked with a move back to the Premier league in January, with Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur credited with an interest.

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Wijnaldum has three goals to his name in Paris, with two of those coming in a Champions League draw with RB Leipzig in November.

However, according to a fresh report from France, the 31-year-old may not be featuring in the Champions League for the rest of the season.

According to Le Parisien, via GetFootballNewsFrance, PSG are set to name their 25-man squad for the remainder of the competition.

But the problem for Pochettino's side, who face Real Madrid in the last 16, is they are only allowed to name 17 overseas players in their squad, but have 18 at their disposal that they use on a regular basis.

UEFA rules state that clubs must have at least eight homegrown players in their squad, which for PSG means to have them either have trained at the club or in France for three years between the ages of 15 to 21.

Wijnaldum would qualify as an overseas player.

And the report states that Wijnaldum is a player who could be removed from the squad, with the others in danger being Ander Herrera, Julian Draxler and Juan Bernat, who was the player to miss out for the first half of the season.

Liverpool know first hand how important their former No.5 can be in the Champions League knockout stages.

Wijnaldum scored the crucial goal in the semi-final against Roma in 2018, then a year later his brace in the historic win over Barcelona at Anfield sent the Reds to the final in Madrid where they won their sixth European Cup.

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