Cody Gakpo’s £50 million move to Liverpool from PSV has been signed and sealed as the pending formalities of work permit and player registration too have been done and dusted now. As a result, the talented winger will now be available for the Reds in their very next game against Wolves in the FA Cup third round. This comes as a massive boost for the club, who are reeling with their form in recent weeks.
Liverpool moved swiftly to conclude a deal for Cody Gakpo, who was rather on his way to sign for their rivals Manchester United. The Reds tabled a £50m package which included £37m fixed fee plus add-ons worth £13m to entice PSV into concluding a deal as the 23-year-old too was convinced of the project at Anfield after talking to his Netherlands teammate and Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk.
Cody Gakpo could be ready for Wolves after watching Liverpool taking a beating from Brentford
Cody Gakpo’s infusion in the team will be a much-needed boost for Liverpool who are struggling to achieve consistency with their results in all competitions. Ever since the restart of club football after the World Cup break, Liverpool have won two and lost as many of their fixtures in all competitions. One of the defeats against Manchester City in the Carabao also shattered their bid to successfully defend the cup.
And after hard-fought victories against Aston Villa and Leicester City where they had to be helped by two own goals from the foxes, Liverpool came down crashing against Brentford. The Bees were flying past the Reds who lost the game 3-1, with their new signing Gakpo watching from the stands. However, Klopp’s team was saved from an embarrassing thumping after Brentford also saw two goals ruled-out for offside.
But the 3-1 loss still leaves Liverpool languishing in the sixth place in the Premier League, seven points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester United. With their title challenge gone long ago, there’s growing uncertainty over whether the Reds will even manage a top-four finish and Champions League football. One major reason for the club’s fall this far has been the constant and long term injuries in the squad.
Summer recruit Arthur Melo, who was brought in to strengthen the midfield from Juventus suffered a knee injury which required a surgery and hence is sidelines for three months. Attacking duo Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota too have sustained long term injuries in early October last year and are not expected in action before March. Amidst an injury crisis, Cody Gakpo has to be that shot in the arm for Liverpool.
The Dutchman had racked up 18 goals and 18 assists in 34 appearances for both club and country since the start of the 22/23 season, and will now look to add to it with Liverpool. Gakpo also enjoyed a brilliant debut World Cup campaign in Qatar, where he scored 3 goals in 5 games in the Netherlands’ run to the quarterfinals. He has watched his new side already go down in an embarrassing way to minnows Brentford with all eyes now on him to revive their ailing season starting from the Wolves game in the FA Cup.