Liverpool identify Newcastle midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum as summer transfer target

Liverpool are preparing a move in signing Newcastle United midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum in the summer transfer window. He joined the Tyneside club from PSV Eindhoven last summer and has been impressive for the Magpies in his debut season.

The Dutch international scored 11 goals and registered five assists in 38 league appearances for Newcastle. However, his goals were not sufficient to stop his side from avoiding relegation from the Premier League.

According to the Liverpool Echo, the Merseyside club were keen on landing Udinese's Piotr Zielinski. However, the Polish international is set to snub the Reds in order to join Serie A outfit AC Milan.

Jurgen Klopp is frustrated by his side's ongoing efforts in landing Zielinski. The situation has forced Liverpool to look elsewhere in the transfer market, which has seen him set his sights on Wijnaldum.

Newcastle paid £14.5m ($19.2m) to PSV to land the Dutchman and after a year, Wijnaldum is looking to leave St James' Park in the current transfer window. The player even expressed his desire to play at the highest level, hinting that he could leave Rafael Benitez's side.

"Of course I want to play at as high level as possible, in the Premier League, with a beautiful club – but not everything always goes the way you want. I will see what happens," the 25-year-old explained, as quoted by The Telegraph.

Wijnaldum is valued at £25m ($33.1m) by his current employers as they are looking to make profit on the investment they made a year ago. Liverpool need to meet Newcastle's asking price if they intend to bring him to Anfield this summer.

The Reds are not the only club in the race for the midfielder's signature. The Mirror claims Liverpool's local rivals Everton and Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham Hotspur are also interested in landing Wijnaldum.