Georgino Wijnaldum admitted that a pre-match talk with Virgil van Dijk helped inspire him to a star turn in Liverpool ’s thumping 4-0 win over Wolves on Sunday.
The midfielder netted a stunning second goal, capping a blistering counter-attack with a curling shot from distance.
Following his goal, he continued the tradition of paying tribute to Van Dijk, copying his compatriot’s celebration.
Wijanldum debuted the celebration after scoring for the Netherlands last month and revealed he will continue doing so until Van Dijk returns from his serious knee injury.
“I already said that every goal I score this year I will dedicate to him because we all miss him,” Wijnaldum told Liverpoolfc.com.
“It was great to have him back. He said to me in the dressing room, ‘I want to see something today, I want a goal’ so I said: ‘No problem!’”
After Mohamed Salah opened the scoring in the first-half, Wolves had showed signs of coming back into the game until Wijnaldum’s strike ended their resistance.
Asked if he felt the visitors growing in confidence, he added: “Yeah, it looked like that but, to be fair, I was quite comfortable during the game that we were going to score another one.
“But you know how it is with a 1-0 lead, just something little has to happen and you can concede a goal – especially against Wolves because it’s a really difficult side to play against.
“During the game I was quite comfortable that we would score another one, but of course it’s a crucial goal because we just had a 1-0 lead.”
The former Newcastle star has just months left on his Liverpool contract, with talks reportedly stalling.
And while he refused to comment on the state of negotiations, Wijnaldum did detail how much he is enjoying playing under Jurgen Klopp.
“I’m loving playing games, I’m loving playing games for Liverpool, for this team. And I’m lucky and blessed that I’m fit until now so yeah, I’m just enjoying the moment.”
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