NOS Football•
Cody Gakpo can now also call himself an official Liverpool player. The 23-year-old striker, who joins from PSV, signed a five-and-a-half-year contract on Wednesday evening after passing a medical.
The club announced it on Twitter as a “Christmas present for the fans”.
Gakpo and Liverpool are still waiting for a work permit for the Dutch international but this is expected to be arranged shortly. From that moment Gakpo is eligible to play, he received the number 18.
‘Many good players’
Gakpo is looking forward to playing for the first time, he says on his new club’s website. “I feel good and I’m very excited. I can’t wait to start training and playing. It’s a great club. I think I will learn a lot from the good players here.”
PSV and Liverpool have not released any statements on the transfer fee, but the English club would pay an amount between 40 and 50 million euros. According to PSV general manager Marcel Brands, this is a record transfer for the club. The highest transfer fee out of PSV was Hirving Lozano, who joined Napoli in 2019 for around €45m.
The Liverpool club can make good use of Gakpo. Forwards Luis Díaz and Diogo Jota are currently injured and are not expected to return for the moment. Also, forwards Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino are getting old.
Klopp sees Gakpo as a ‘smart footballer’
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp calls Gakpo a smart footballer and a smart boy. “He’s only 23, but he already has a lot of experience. We believe he has a bright future with us.”
Gakpo went through PSV’s youth academy and made his first-team debut in February 2018. He played 159 games, in which he scored 55 goals. With the team from Eindhoven he became national champion (2018), won the KNVB Cup (2022) and won the Johan Cruijff ladder twice (2021 and 2022).
