Liverpool is in pole position to take over Cody Gakpo from PSV on January 1.
The footballer of the year in the Netherlands is coveted by several clubs in the Premier League, including Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United. But 23-year-old Gakpo would have made his choice in recent days and, according to insiders at Liverpool, wanted to play for Virgil van Dijk’s club.
Although all parties are still silent, PSV will collect a substantial amount. This concerns an amount of more than 50 million euros. Gakpo has put himself in the spotlight during the World Cup in Qatar. He scored in every game in the group stage, but was already on the radar of just about all top English clubs before that time. The question was not whether he would move to England, but when.
PSV needs tens of millions
It is known that PSV needs tens of millions to avoid financial problems this season. For that reason, there was already a serious conflict at the start of this season about the transfer of the attacker (it cost technical manager John de Jong), which was canceled at the last minute. Gakpo himself also played a role in this because on the last day he decided to put an end to his departure from Eindhoven. In retrospect, a good decision, because both the player and the club are rewarded with much larger amounts barely four months later.
Gakpo is supervised by SEG, which is the brokerage firm that also represents the interests of Erik ten Hag and Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola. If Gakpo’s transfer to Liverpool does indeed materialize in the coming days, it will be clear that the office is operating for all the top clubs in England and is not, as has been suggested, wanting to do all deals just for Manchester United and Manchester City.