Newcastle announced the departure of Gini Wijnaldum to Liverpool this week for a fee believed to be around £25m and after the latest pre-season friendly win, Benitez was asked his thought as per the Shields Gazette.
Dutchman Wijnaldum had made it clear he wanted Premier league football in the wake of the club’s relegation in May although the Newcastle manager is under no pressure to sell any players.
Benitez eventually allowed Gini Wijnaldum to move to Liverpool after the club received an acceptable offer from the Merseyside club and Benitez only wants players who understand what it means to play for Newcastle.
Newcastle travelled to Belgium on Saturday to play a pre-season friendly against Sporting Lokeren, Newcastle ran out 4-0 winners which saw Ayoze Perez bag a brace along with Jonjo Shelvey and Daryl Janmaat grabbing goals.
After the match Newcastle boss, Benitez was asked his thoughts on the transfer of Wijnaldum to Liverpool, here is what he said:
I said before that we didn’t need to sell, just if we wanted to sell. In this case, we have lost a very good player. But I think that was the best decision for him, for us. We want to be sure that the players here are really focus and understand what it means to be promoted for the club, the fans, the city. Gini was a good player, and we allowed him to go to a Premier League club. For us, the reality was good, because it was a good transfer, but also we keep a good team at the same time.
With Rafa suggesting Wijnaldum didn’t quite understand what it means to play for Newcastle it appears to be great business by the club.
