He may already have a UEFA Champions League more than his new employers, but Georginio Wijnaldum expects his game to improve at Paris Saint-Germain following his arrival from Liverpool.
"It's a really good feeling first of all, because I can join a big club and play with big players, go to a good city, a beautiful city, play for beautiful fans as I know because I already played against PSG in the Champions League, so I know how the fans are," Wijnaldum explained to capital club magazine show This is Paris.
Europe's biggest clubs were on red alert last season when it became apparent that Wijnaldum's time at Liverpool was coming to an end. One of the best all-round midfielders on the continent, PSG pulled out all of the stops to lure the 30-year-old to Paris, with coach Mauricio Pochettino, in particular, playing a central role.
"Everyone knew my situation, that I had a few clubs to choose," Wijnaldum said. "Pochettino spoke with me before I even spoke with the club. We had a good conversation. He told me about the project of the club. About the way he wanted to play - what I already know from a few years ago because he wanted to sign me for Tottenham, so I already know a little bit about his way of working.
"At Liverpool we play really offensive, and we played football. That's the most beautiful thing what you can have when you play football, if you play in a team who play offensive football, who play football when they have the ball, so for my feeling, the way he plays, that was a play that suits my style, so in a way that was an easy choice to make."
Champions League finalists a year ago, and semi-finalists back in the spring, PSG hope their summer business will help them conquer Europe at last. After capturing Wijnaldum's signature, Paris also completed deals for Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos, Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and right-back Achraf Hakimi from Inter.
"You want to sign for a club who is going to compete for titles," Wijnaldum continued. "Before I joined there was already a really good team. But to see the signings after me, it was really exciting, and it makes it even more exciting for me to start at this club, and it gives me an even better feeling that also the club put more effort in than there already was to win titles."
A Champions League winner with Liverpool in 2019, PSG fans hope the Dutchman will provide a missing piece in the club's expensively assembled jigsaw.
"I'm confident that my quality and my experience can help this club further, can help this team further," he said. "But I have to say it's a team sport, especially because you have a lot of good players, we have to make it one team because that is going to make us stronger.
"I'm going to learn from everyone, from the managers, from my teammates, from the people who work at the club. I can learn from everyone, to make me a better player. I don't think because I have won titles with Liverpool that I cannot learn things here because the club has a project and also wants to improve in that project, so it's good for me to improve also in my own career."
