Georginio Gregion Emile Wijnaldum (pronounced [dʑoːrˈdʑiɲoː ʋɛiˈnɑldʏm];[citation needed] born 11 November 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq, whom he captains, and the Netherlands national team.

[4][5][6] A youth product of Eredivisie side Feyenoord, Wijnaldum became the youngest player ever to represent the club when he made his debut in 2007, and went on to play 134 matches over the course of a five-year spell, winning the KNVB Cup in 2008.

Wijnaldum is also a full Dutch international, having earned over 90 caps since making his debut in 2011, and was a member of the squads which finished third at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and runners-up in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League.

After playing for Sparta Rotterdam for seven seasons and representing the Netherlands at various youth levels, Wijnaldum decided to accept a new Feyenoord offer.

In January 2007, a few weeks after turning 16, Wijnaldum was invited to the first team's training camp in Belek, Turkey, by Feyenoord manager Erwin Koeman.

[17] On 8 April 2007, Wijnaldum made his official debut in Feyenoord's starting line-up in the 4–0 Eredivisie home defeat to Groningen.

[20] On 2 October 2008, he scored his first European goal for Feyenoord in the return match over Kalmar FF, which resulted in a 1–2 win and a place in the competition's group stage.

[23] On 29 June 2011, the technical director of Feyenoord announced the club had reached a transfer deal for Wijnaldum reported to be worth €5 million with PSV.

Since joining the club, Wijnaldum established himself in the starting 11 as he scored goals and developed assists from his attacking role in midfield in Eredivisie, the KNVB Cup and the UEFA Europa League.

After the retirement of Mark van Bommel and the departure of Kevin Strootman in the summer of 2013, Wijnaldum was named PSV's captain for the 2013–14 Eredivisie season.

On 11 July 2015, Wijnaldum joined English Premier League club Newcastle United on a five-year contract, for a reported transfer fee of £14.5 million, making him the most expensive signing of Mike Ashley's ownership.

[26] Wijnaldum made his debut on 9 August as Newcastle began the season with a 2–2 home draw against Southampton, heading in a goal from Gabriel Obertan's cross.

[30] Wijnaldum was considered the player of the match in a game against Liverpool when he forced Martin Škrtel into an own goal as well as scoring himself in a 2–0 win.

[35][36] Wijnaldum made his Premier League debut for Liverpool against Arsenal on 14 August 2016, where he played 80 minutes and provided an assist for Adam Lallana before being replaced by Kevin Stewart.

[42] On 2 May 2018, Wijnaldum scored his first away goal since May 2015, and his first for an English club, when he netted in a 7–6 aggregate victory over Roma to help Liverpool progress to the final of the 2017–18 Champions League.

[63] On 7 June 2021, Wijnaldum signed a three-year contract with Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), as reported by Fabrizio Romano and The Guardian.

[73] On 12 March, Wijnaldum scored his first goal for Roma in a 4–3 home defeat to Sassuolo, a chip over the goalkeeper in stoppage time.

[74] On 2 September 2023, Wijnaldum signed for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq on a three-year contract,[75] in which he rejoined his former teammate at Liverpool, Jordan Henderson.

[79] Wijnaldum made his official Netherlands under-21 debut on 4 September 2009 in a 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Finland, which ended in a 2–0 victory.

Wijnaldum was selected for the Netherlands at the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, where he made three appearances and scored against both Germany and Russia, as the Jong Oranje reached the semi-final stage, where they were beaten by Italy.

[81] He made his international debut in the match against San Marino on 2 September 2011, appearing as a substitute in the 86th minute and promptly scoring the final goal in an 11–0 win.

[82] Wijnaldum was a member of the Netherlands squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he appeared as a substitute in the team's opening two group matches against Spain and Australia.

[88] At the tournament finals, he captained the nation in the absence of Virgil van Dijk, who was recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

[91] After sustaining a fractured tibia while playing for A.S. Roma in August 2022, Wijnaldum was unable to feature for the Netherlands at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

[97] On 23 June 2021, Wijnaldum announced that he would wear a rainbow armband under the slogan OneLove during the Netherlands' UEFA Euro 2020 round of 16 match against Czechia in a show of solidarity to both the LGBT community and German captain Manuel Neuer who had a case opened against him at UEFA for wearing the rainbow armband.