Al-Ittihad are close to a deal that could reshape their squad this season. The club have moved nearer to a signing that blends experience, quality and versatility, a move that could hand “the Dean” a significant addition before the summer window shuts.<\/p>\n
Georginio Wijnaldum is currently undergoing a medical, according to Saudi newspaper “Al-Riyadiah”. Pass it, and the Dutchman will sign for Al-Ittihad on a free transfer, returning to the Roshn League through a fresh door after leaving Al-Ettifaq.<\/p>\n
Read also.. Born of struggle.. can Vissing repeat the “green miracle” with Al-Ittihad?<\/p>\n
Wijnaldum makes an attractive option, not least because he already knows Saudi football inside out. He left a clear mark across three seasons at Al-Ettifaq, standing out both technically and physically.<\/p>\n
He also proved he could do more than one job. Rather than limit himself to midfield, Wijnaldum popped up in advanced attacking positions during his Al-Ettifaq days, including as a false nine, using his experience to drift between the lines and get into the box.<\/p>\n
You can discuss the topics and news in greater depth in the “Kooora” forums<\/p>\n
The numbers tell the story. In 101 appearances for Al-Ettifaq, Wijnaldum scored 38 goals and set up 17 more, a direct hand in 55 goals across his three years at the club.<\/p>\n
Wijnaldum walked away at the start of this season when his contract ran out, but his Roshn League grounding gives him a real edge at Al-Ittihad. He won’t need long to settle into the rhythm of the competition or the intensity of the rivalries, which could see him break into the coaching staff’s plans quickly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Al-Ittihad are close to a deal that could reshape their squad this season. The club have moved nearer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[92077,272952,85,46,24484,105],"class_list":["post-607943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-al-ittihad","tag-g-wijnaldum","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-saudi-pro-league","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}