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For Gini Wijnaldum , this is an away trip where he will feel right at home.

The Liverpool midfielder will return to St James’ Park for the first time on Sunday since his £25million move from Newcastle United some 15 months ago.

Wijnaldum hasn’t looked back since linking up with Jurgen Klopp’s squad but remains grateful for the role the Magpies played in his development.

“It’s always a special game when you play against your previous club,” Wijnaldum told the ECHO.

“I was only one year at Newcastle but that time there meant a lot to me. I met some great people who helped me to play good games in the Premier League and it was because of them I got the move to Liverpool.

“I only worked with Rafa Benitez for a short time but he’s a great manager and he showed it from the first moment he came. He worked with the players and made us a better team. He’s a good person, always trying to help players out.

“I will always appreciate what Newcastle did for me and be thankful that they gave me the opportunity to play in the Premier League. It’s going to be a really special game for me.”

Wijnaldum isn’t sure what kind of reception awaits him in the North East but insists his conscience is clear. Newcastle, who bought him from PSV Eindhoven for £14.5million in July 2015, slapped a £25million price tag on him following their relegation from the top-flight and Liverpool agreed to pay it.

“I don’t know what it will be like for me,” he said.

“I remember my last game for Newcastle in the pre-season when their fans were singing that they wanted me to stay, but when the opportunity came to play for a great club like Liverpool with such a great history I had to take it. I hope they understand why I made that choice to go to Liverpool.

“When the previous season at Newcastle ended, I said publicly that I wouldn’t force a move. When Liverpool came in for me I made up my mind that I wanted to come here, but I wasn’t going to force it because I appreciated what Newcastle and their fans did for me.”

Much is made of Wijnaldum’s long wait for an away goal at club level. His six Premier League goals for the Reds last season all came at Anfield and he’s yet to get off the mark this term.

Remarkably, he hasn’t netted on his travels since a 3-2 win for PSV against Den Haag in May 2015. But St James’ was always a happy hunting ground for the Netherlands international. He scored 11 goals in 19 home league outings for Newcastle.

“It would be funny if this is the ground where I finally end that wait,” he said.

“It’s like a home ground for me. I don’t know why it’s happened that my goals in the past couple of years have all come at home rather than away. It’s never happened to me before.

“You see a lot of times that teams tend to play better at home than away. Maybe that has something to do with it.

“St James’ is a ground I know well. It felt like home during my time there and I hope it will feel like home again on Sunday.”

Wijnaldum enjoyed an impressive first year at Anfield - capped by the thumping strike agaist Middlesbrough on the final day which helped clinch a top-four finish.

Happy and settled, the 26-year-old lives in Southport where he counts Kop legend Kenny Dalglish as a neighbour.

“Kenny lives at the end of my street,” he said.

“We went for lunch one time and that was good. He surprised me. He really knew me as a player.

“He said he had seen a lot of my games and he could tell me about the games I’d played and the goals I’d scored. I was really surprised that he was following me when I was at Feyenoord.

“Kenny is one of the greatest players Liverpool have ever had so to speak with him is always great.”

(Image: OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images)

It’s been a hectic period for Wijnaldum, who became a father for the third time last month. His girlfriend Virginia gave birth to their son Jacian just hours after Liverpool’s Champions League play-off victory over Hoffenheim at Anfield.

Wijnaldum’s post-match dash to his home city of Rotterdam saw him miss the birth but that was always a distinct possibility when he told Klopp he wanted to stay and help the Reds book their passage to the group stage.

“I knew before the game that she had gone into labour,” he revealed.

“I didn’t think about missing the game. I knew that afterwards I would be able to fly straight back to be with her.

“When I was playing, I was able to switch off and just focus on the game. Unfortunately, I didn’t get there in time for the birth. That was a sad thing but things happen for a reason.”

Klopp, who steers clear of social media, joked that he was the last to know about the new arrival when he was informed by the media at Melwood later that week.

“When I was with my son I was just enjoying the moment. I forgot to text the manager!” Wijnaldum said.

“The people that knew at the club forgot to tell him and I thought he already knew.

“Jacian is doing great. He’s growing really fast. He’s healthy and my girlfriend is healthy and that’s the most important thing when you have a child.

“They are in Rotterdam but soon they will come to Liverpool. These are happy days for me.”

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After a frustrating September when the Reds won just once in six matches, Wijnaldum is confident that October will prove to be more productive.

He’s hoping to earn a recall for the trip to St James’ after coming off the bench in the 1-1 draw with Spartak Moscow on Tuesday night.

“I don’t think we have played badly and I don’t think I’ve been bad either,” he said. “But we haven’t won enough games so that makes it difficult for you to be able to say it’s been a good start to the season.

“If you look at the way we’re playing football, there have been some very good games but unfortunately we haven’t won them. The last league game against Leicester wasn’t our best one but we won and that’s the most important thing.

“Football wise, we’ve created a lot of chances. The bad point is that we didn’t kill teams off. When you create as many chances as we have then you have to score more goals.

“Every game is now very important, especially as we’ve dropped points in games when we shouldn’t have done. That makes the pressure even bigger on us to win but that’s the situation and we have to deal with it.

“We don’t need to be beautiful, we just need to be smart and professional. It doesn’t matter how you win a game, just win.”

Gini Wijnaldum and Jon Flanagan were the special guests at a Red Neighbours event at Anfield's new club store.

The Reds duo played the winners of a Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 tournament involving local school children and handed out the prizes.

Red Neighbours is Liverpool's new community programme to support local residents and schools in the Anfield area.