Darren Bent says Wijnaldum does NOT deserve to become one of Reds' top earners

Georginio Wijnaldum should not be paid as much as the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane if he agrees a deal to stay at the club, former England striker Darren Bent has said.

Netherlands regular Wijnaldum is out of contract at Anfield at the end of the season and could looks unlikely to agree new terms with the Premier League leaders in the coming weeks.

The 30-year-old has been rumoured to be seeking wages that would put him on a par with the likes of strikers Salah and Mane, but Bent believes that any hike from his reported £75,000-a-week deal should not make him a top earner.

Bent told Football Insider: 'He's been very, very good but no, I'm not putting him on the same wages as Salah, Mane - even [Roberto] Firmino, for that matter.

'But to kind of catapult yourself to where [Virgil] van Dijk is, Alisson... them two, for instance, changed lives at Liverpool when they came in.

'So to say you want to be on the same kind of level as them, I don't think so. You can't get away with that.

'He certainly deserves a bigger wage than he's probably on but to say that he wants to be one of the top earners in the same bracket as them guys - no.'

Wijnaldum was one of manager Jurgen Klopp's earliest signings after joining the club in 2015, signing the midfielder from Newcastle for £25million in July 2016.

Klopp has often described Wijnaldum as going under the radar during his hugely successful time at the club, including helping the Reds to the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League title last season.

Wijnaldum has been almost ever-present so far this season, playing in all of Liverpool's Premier League games and only failing to complete 90 minutes on three occasions.

The former PSV and Feyenoord star also played a major part in Liverpool qualifying from their Champions League group, only being rested for the final game of their early European campaign.

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