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Football

27th Dec 2022

The reason Cody Gakpo chose Liverpool over Man United

Callum Boyle

Gakpo is set to join Liverpool in January

Cody Gakpo is almost certainly going to become a Liverpool player in January after PSV Eindhoven confirmed that they had agreed a deal in principle with the Reds.

A tweet from the Dutch club on Boxing Day confirmed the news, saying:

‘PSV and Liverpool have reached an agreement on the proposed transfer of Cody Gakpo. The 23-year-old attacker will leave for England imminently where he will be subjected to the necessary formalities ahead of the completion of the transfer’.

Virgil van Dijk’s hint about Cody Gakpo

Cody Gakpo has been one of the most sought-after players in world football and had heavily been linked with making a move to Liverpool’s direct rivals Manchester United, but one thing changed that.

Reports in the Netherlands have claimed that Liverpool and Dutch captain, Virgil van Dijk, personally called the 23-year-old to convince to make the move to Anfield. Eindhovens Dagblad say that the defender personally made contact hours before news of the deal first broke.

Van Dijk hinted after his side’s 3-1 win against Aston Villa on Monday evening that the Reds needed more players if they were to improve in the long term.

He said: “Hopefully the injured players can come back soon, and hopefully we can welcome some new players at our football club.

“We will see. I think that quality is always welcome at Liverpool.”

As well as the van Dijk element, Cody Gakpo is heading to Anfield as Manchester United were reportedly uneasy at making another permanent signing after a summer in which they spent over £200m on five new players. United are, instead, looking at a loan deal for a striker that will take them up to the end of the season.

With the Glazer family seeking outside investment, and a possible sale, the club may not make any significant transfer deals until the summer of 2023.

Liverpool have a host of injury troubles in the attacking third. Luis Díaz, Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino were all absent, leaving Jürgen Klopp to call upon youngsters Ben Doak and Stefan Bajcetić, who scored the Reds’ third goal at Villa Park.

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