Reason Why Paris Saint Germain Attacker Georginio Wijnaldum Dropped His Ghanaian Name Revealed

• Dutch-born footballer Georginio Wijnaldum has explained the reason why he erased his Ghanaian name on his official documents
• He stated with unmitigated certainty that the name 'Boateng' was adopted as a result of his mother marrying a Ghanaian man, however since the marriage failed there was no need to maintain it
• Wijnaldum endured a torrid debut season at Paris Saint-Germain after exiting Liverpool and would hope to get his career back on track in the next campaign

Dutch and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum has shed light on why he dropped his Ghanaian name.

Wijnaldum is originally of Surinamese heritage and at a point in his life, bore a Ghanaian surname - Boateng.

According to the former PSV Eindhoven and Liverpool attacker, he took on the name when his mum remarried a Ghanaian but had to drop the name when the marriage collapsed.

"I want to put on record that I am now Georginio Wijnaldum, not Georginio Boateng, in fact, I have been known as George Wijnaldum for four years now,” he stated as quoted by GOAL.

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Football

He added: “Boateng was the name of my former stepfather who is related to retired Dutch footballer of Ghanaian origin George Boateng.”

“My stepfather gave his surname to me but after he divorced my mother I got the Boateng off my name and took my mother’s name Wijnaldum as my surname.”

Wijnaldum stated in no uncertain terms: “My mother and my original father are Surinamese so people should get it clear.”

The 31-year-old has been capped 86 times by the Dutch national team, scoring 26 goals in the process for the three-time World Cup losing finalists.

The stunning reason why Memphis Depay snubbed Ghana for Holland revealed

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Memphis Depay turned down an approach by the Ghana Football Association to have him named in the Black Stars squad due to his father.

The Barcelona attacker was born to a Ghanaian father and a Dutch mother, thus the 28-year-old was eligible to play for the Black Stars.

But Depay, who has Ghanaian dual citizenship, Ghana and the Netherlands, chose to represent the European powerhouse, the country of his birth.