Use your head like Sadio and subscribe to the Liverpool FC newsletter Sign me up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

When Gini Wijnaldum walks out at Anfield to face West Ham on Sunday afternoon you can guarantee that Francina Mayland will be watching.

The Dutch midfielder’s grandmother has been a pillar of support throughout the Liverpool midfielder’s career. Every step of the way she’s been a guiding light.

Spend some time in his company and Wijnaldum’s debt of gratitude to the inspirational woman who brought him up in Rotterdam shines through.

“It started when I was young. I had a good feeling when I was with my grandma,” he said.

“When I was five my mother wanted to leave for another city. Rotterdam to Amsterdam. I was with my grandma, with all my cousins and my aunts we all came together there. Every day after school I went to my grandma’s because my mother had to work.

“It was normal for me to be with my grandma, so when my mother said ‘do you want to leave for Amsterdam?’ I asked her if I could stay with my grandma because I didn’t want to leave the place where I grew up.

“At first she was not happy with it and said no, but I then asked my grandma and she said it was okay if my mother agreed with it. After a few times of asking my mother agreed with it so I stayed with my grandma from the age of five to 18. She took me to football and to school. She took care of me.”

It was Francina who would brave all weathers to accompany Wijnaldum on the long walk to youth training at Sparta Rotterdam. As he rose through the ranks she also convinced him to give up gymnastics and concentrate on football.

“We were not poor, but not rich,” Wijnaldum said.

“We didn’t have a car so we travelled by subway. But there were times when we had to be at training at 7am and it was too early for the subway so she would walk with me.

“She was a great support because although she was old, she was still fit. It was a 45-minute walk to training with Sparta Rotterdam from my house but she would walk with me, even in the winter. She never let me go alone. She was always by my side supporting me.

“I loved doing acrobatics when I was young, but she was scared that I might hurt myself, break my neck or something like that. I was doing things like back flips in the street.

“To be fair, she didn’t take me to football to make it my job in the future but more to keep me off the streets and not to do silly things - to make sure I made something of my life.

“She always said that firstly you have to go to school and after school you can play soccer.”

After Wijnaldum made his senior debut for Feyenoord at the age of 16 against FC Groningen in April 2007 he handed his shirt over to his grandmother.

“It’s on a wall in her living room,” he revealed. “She doesn’t really ask for things. She is just happy if things go well for me.”

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

Wijnaldum’s rise since then has been impressive. Snapped up by PSV Eindhoven in 2011, he went to captain the Dutch giants to league glory.

Newcastle United bought him for £14.5million in 2015 and then Liverpool shelled out £25million for him last summer. When Wijnaldum travelled to Merseyside for his medical in July, Francina joined him for a look around the club he was joining.

“She is 82 now and tries to watch all the games I play,” he said.

“If she is not at the games then she watches them on television. She has seen me in Liverpool a few times. The first time she came was with my mother and brother when I signed and had my medical. She is still supporting and looking out for me.”

Wijnaldum has proved to be a shrewd acquisition for the Reds, shining in a more disciplined midfield role under Jurgen Klopp than he was given at Newcastle. Humble and hard working, there’s never been any danger of the 26-year-old getting carried away.

“The most important thing my grandma told me is that I always have to do my best so when I look back later in my career I do not have regrets,” he said.

“That I give everything and that I always have to be myself, even if I get higher in football, you always have to be yourself and never change and try to enjoy it even if it is a hard time. She told me not to lose myself in the situation but try to enjoy the game.

“Of course your life changes but I am the same person I was before. Sometimes people say ‘I didn’t expect you to be that way’.”

Wijnaldum viewed Liverpool as the “perfect match” for him after he met Klopp for the first time last summer. Events since then have only strengthened that belief.

“I already had a good feeling before I signed,” he added.

“I also spoke to (Mauricio) Pochettino at Tottenham and that was also a great conversation. He also convinced me to sign but we never came to an agreement, me or Newcastle so that was not an option any more.

“After that I spoke to Jurgen Klopp and he told me about the club and the way he was working. From that moment I had a good feeling it was a perfect match for me.

“I think I am at the right place now but you still have to work hard to succeed and win things so that is what I am going to do.”