Mohamed Salah Explain Why Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool needs another Gini Wijnaldum in the Squad.

Although Gini Wijnaldum and Liverpool are no longer together, there is one quality about the Dutchman that Jurgen Klopp would value right now.

Gini Wijnaldum, a former midfielder for Liverpool, knew just who to contact when Jose Mourinho and Roma arrived at the door.

The Dutchman explained his decision to join earlier this week: “I wanted to come because of the effort the club made to sign me and because I spoke to Mo Salah about the club and the city and I only heard nice reports about it.

Salah, of course, produced the constant level of play at Roma that led Jurgen Klopp to approve his move to Liverpool in the summer of 2017. After persuading his former teammate and a few other former teammates, Wijnaldum has agreed to spend the season on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in the Italian city.

Salah and Wijnaldum, though, share more traits than simply calling Anfield and the Stadio Olimpico their homes. And it’s a quality that is giving Reds manager Klopp a lot of anxiety in the early going of yet another busy season.

Durability. All the talent in the world won’t matter if a player is not physically fit to participate in the game.

The fact that Klopp must deal with an ever-growing injury list, not least in the midfield where Thiago Alcantara, Curtis Jones, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are out indefinitely, has thrown this into glaring perspective. The setbacks could not have come at a worse moment with a busy schedule looming before the upcoming international break in late September.

Throughout his five years at the club, Wijnaldum was a dependable, consistent presence in the Liverpool midfield. Prior to joining PSG, he played every game in every competition for the Reds except two during their injury-plagued 2020–21 season. In total, he missed just eight Premier League games while playing at Anfield. He only missed five games, even during a trying last term in France.

Even though a few were simply very unlucky, the contrast with Klopp’s current midfield choices is, in some cases, alarmingly pronounced.

Thiago missed a month over Christmas last season due to a hip problem after missing six weeks early in the season with a calf strain. His full debut was cut short shortly after signing weeks into the previous season by a knee injury sustained in a collision with then-Everton striker Richarlison that sidelined him for over two months.

Throughout 2021–2022, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson were generally available. Due to injuries to his knee and thigh, Fabinho missed two Premier League games in October. He was also unable to participate in the FA Cup final. The Brazilian’s absences throughout each of the two prior campaigns were significantly longer.

Last season, Henderson missed just three league games, one of which was a sick day. Compared to his previous two seasons, which were abruptly ended by knee and groin problems, this one was a significant improvement.

Keita made his most appearances in a season for Liverpool last year for a cause despite the frequent setbacks in his early years. In the fall, he missed seven games due to hamstring pain, but only one more game because of a knee injury. He did, of course, miss the Fulham game in this season’s opener due to sickness.

In each of the previous two seasons, James Milner’s hamstrings held him out for a month, while he missed over a third of the 2019–20 season—his title-winning season—due to a variety of issues. Although Oxlade-Chamberlain has a history of injuries, he only missed one game due to fitness concerns last year, as opposed to the season before when he missed the first three months with a knee ailment.

Jones missed the first few games of last season due to a concussion before suffering an unexpected eye ailment that sidelined him for two months just as he was settling into a regular first-team role. He was a member of the matchday squad for every game except three during the previous season. Additionally, Harvey Elliott, who spent the entire season on loan at Championship team Blackburn Rovers, played every game, missed five months of the previous season due to a fractured ankle.

What about Salah? The Egyptian missed two Premier League games in 2017–18 due to rest, two the season before due to the coronavirus, one in 2019–20 owing to an ankle ailment. I’m done now.

Of course, injuries are a given in football, and Liverpool’s style of play and the intensity of the Premier League place a heavy burden on the club’s strength and conditioning staff to keep players healthy. The engine room may experience this more than most, even though, as was shown above, occasionally setbacks are unavoidable.

Ago their prosperous period together, both Liverpool and Wijnaldum have long since moved on. But in one mostly ignored regard, the Dutchman continues to serve as a role model for his old club. Last season, Henderson and Fabinho were able to perform, but Klopp is aware that the more midfielders who can provide a comparable level of continuity, the better.