Wijnaldum future sorted as Liverpool sweat over key detail of new contract

Liverpool will reward Georginio Wijnaldum with a new contract but will want to be certain over its length before offering the deal to the Dutchman, according to reliable journalist David Maddock.
Wijnaldum, signed by Reds boss Jurgen Klopp in 2016, has become one of the club’s most trusted players over the past few seasons.
The 29-year-old’s finest moment came last season when he scored a brace to help Liverpool overcome Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals.
However, the midfielder has less than 18 months left on his contract and he admitted in a recent interview that he is unsure about his next steps.
Speaking to The Redmen TV, Daily Mirror journalist Maddock provided crucial insight into Wijnaldum’s Anfield situation.
He said: “What I would do is what Liverpool will do, which is give him a new contract.
“But the key there is not the £90,000 a week, but he’s approaching 30 years old. Look at the way Liverpool do business now, when they’re looking at contracts they reward them for performance, but they also eventually look at sell-on potential.
“And the fact is, at 30 years old, you give him one more contract then you get nothing for him. So you have to be sure. For instance if you give him a five-year contract he’s going to be 35, and is he going to go on [at this level] until he’s 35?”
LENGTH OF CONTRACT THE ISSUE
Maddock continued by saying that Wijnaldum will likely be handed a new deal based on previous decisions to hand extensions to the likes of James Milner and Jordan Henderson.
“They’ve got to look at Wijnaldum, he’s a slightly different age. I suspect that they’re talking to him about length of contract, not money,” he said.
“They’ll give him the right money, but it’s length of contract. You don’t give him a five-year contract, but obviously if you’re 30 years old and you’re signing your ‘last’ contract, you want it as long as possible [and] as high as possible, especially with the level he’s playing.
“But they’ve always come to an agreement with these players that are important. James Milner‘s an example, they’ve always come to an agreement with him but they always leave it because he’s of an age where you can’t throw money around.
“Liverpool just don’t do that, they’re very careful, sensible, and they have this setup now where they’re making long-term decisions as well as short-term decisions.
“And it works, and why change it? But he’ll get a contract, he’ll get more than £5 million a year.”
In other Liverpool news, Klopp has revealed that Sadio Mane will be out for the Reds’ upcoming fixtures against West Ham and Southampton with injury.
The Senegal international will, however, be back in contention from next week.
Klopp told a press conference: “The week after is fine for him to get back on track. It was a small muscle tear and it was enough to keep him out for three games.
“We were lucky with the injury that it was not that serious.”