Cody Gakpo

Liverpool are set to beat Manchester United to the £50 million ($60m) signing of PSV forward Cody Gakpo.

So if they can get it over the line, it'll be even sweeter for Klopp and Co. Crucially, he is capable of operating across the forward line, providing the kind of versatility Liverpool crave, and his age, 23, means there is room for improvement too, as there is with Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Fabio Carvalho and Diogo Jota, the club's last four attacking signings. "The 23-year-old attacker will immediately leave for England where he will undergo the necessary formalities to complete the transfer.

Gakpo, who came close to joining Manchester United this summer, is heading for Liverpool after starring at the World Cup.

“I’ve said to him many times, ‘Make the right decision’ — and I think he will. “The choice he makes, I don’t think it’s going to be about him making good money,” Scheepers says. In the end I stayed, but it was a stressful period.” A look at his shooting map in the Europa League — where he has so far faced Bodo/Glimt once and FC Zurich twice — illustrates how his game changes when playing against teams who want to defend deeper. “At this moment, you could definitely say he is too good to play in the Eredivisie,” adds Voetbal International’s Goodijk. “He plays with a huge amount of confidence and finally also really steps up in the big games. “It’s the player,” he says. But in the end, he had the determination. They praised his skills and they wanted him to have fun, to enjoy the game. Scheepers is no longer a youth-team coach and when he speaks to The Athletic from the Netherlands, he has just finished preparing for Utrecht’s next league match — the trip to PSV Eindhoven last weekend. European football at large has taken a shine to the winger and various clubs are thinking hard about him in advance of the transfer window opening again at New Year. In Qatar, Gakpo became the first Dutch player to score in all three group stage matches at a World Cup.

Liverpool have reached an agreement to sign Netherlands international forward Cody Gakpo, PSV Eindhoven have announced.

The news came on the same day the Anfield club [clinched a 3-1 victory at Aston Villa](https://www.eurosport.com/football/premier-league/2022-2023/aston-villa-v-liverpool-premier-league-live_sto9289041/story.shtml)in their Premier League clash. Premier League

The transfer fee is between £35m and £45m. A PSV statement on Monday said: "PSV and LFC have reached an agreement on the proposed transfer of Cody Gakpo.

Gakpo has all the attributes required of a modern forward and after his perfect treble at the World Cup had clubs across Europe scrambling for his signature before Liverpool won the race. That mentality will have impressed his suitors as much as his league-topping tally of goals and assists. His steadily rising goals- and assists-per-90 minutes stats for his club show that extra homework is paying off. At PSV he has shone as a left winger, cutting inside. A goal in each group stage game - one with his head, one with his left foot and one with his right foot - was testament to his rapidly improving play in the final third, appetite for the big stage and versatility. Cody Gakpo's stock increased at the World Cup with three goals in five appearances before the Netherlands were knocked out by eventual winners Argentina; Man Utd had shown interest in Gakpo in the summer before pursuing a deal for Antony from Ajax

The 23-year-old Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo 'will leave for England imminently', PSV said, after Liverpool stole a march on some English rivals.

[PSV tweeted](https://twitter.com/PSV/status/1607495528580890625): “PSV and [@LFC](https://twitter.com/LFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) have reached an agreement on the proposed transfer of Cody Gakpo. Jürgen Klopp is keen to refresh his midfield with Jude Bellingham a favoured option, although Borussia Dortmund are unlikely to consider selling the England international until the summer. The 23-year-old had been strongly linked with Manchester United, where the manager, Erik ten Hag, is a confirmed admirer, while Newcastle were interested last summer.

Liverpool has left a bitter rival spitting chips after stealing a World Cup revelation from under their nose with a record transfer fee.

“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.” PSV general manager Marcel Brands said the transfer fee would be a club record for the Dutch club. The Reds sit sixth in the Premier League, five points outside the top four places that secure qualification to the Champions League after a poor start to the season. “PSV and Liverpool FC have reached an agreement on the proposed transfer of Cody Gakpo,” PSV said in a statement.

How do you solve a problem like Darwin Nunez? Liverpool's response to that dilemma has now been made clear by their move to sign Cody Gakpo.

In 20 games in all competitions, the 23-year-old has scored nine goals and registered four assists, but it is the missed chances that have led to the spotlight being fixed on the forward. From a Liverpool perspective, Nunez is making up for his lack of goals with incredible work-rate for the team and an obvious desire to come through the tough times he is enduring. The signing of Gakpo is proof of that. [Liverpool](/soccer/team?id=364)'s response to that dilemma has now been made clear by their move to sign [Cody Gakpo](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/249524/Cody-Gakpo) in a £37 million transfer from [PSV Eindhoven](/soccer/team?id=148) -- a deal that has been done so quietly and efficiently that the [Netherlands](/soccer/team?id=449) forward [could be signed and sealed at Anfield as soon as the winter transfer window officially opens](/soccer/soccer-transfers/story/4838646/liverpool-beat-man-united-to-agreement-for-cody-gakpo-with-psv) on Jan. Nunez is now entering a key period of his Liverpool career, however. Firmino has since become an undisputed Liverpool legend with his goals and performances, but there aren't many who can say they have turned a difficult situation around quite like the Placing too much emphasis on xG can be misleading, though. Nunez has scored just one "heavy" goal for Liverpool so far -- the winner in the 1-0 victory against West Ham in October -- so he needs to deliver more often in the big games when chances are at a premium and the value of goals is so much higher. Gakpo's arrival could be viewed in two ways by Nunez. [Darwin Nunez](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/271788/Darwin-Núñez)? [Sadio Mane](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/169797/Sadio-Mané) has moved on to [Bayern Munich](/soccer/team?id=132) in that time, and the [Senegal](/soccer/team?id=654) international has been a huge loss to Liverpool, but that exit has been counter-balanced by Salah committing himself to a new three-year contract in July. [Luis Diaz](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/257390/Luis-Díaz), [Diogo Jota](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/208133/Diogo-Jota) and [Roberto Firmino](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/147234/Roberto-Firmino) are all sidelined with injuries of varying severity right now, but when they are fully fit, adding them to a group that also includes [Mohamed Salah](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/173896/Mohamed-Salah), [Fabio Carvalho](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/231049/Fabio-Carvalho) and Nunez will ensure a regular selection headache for Klopp, even before Gakpo is brought into the equation.

PSV Eindhoven, the employer, and Liverpool have inked the deal for the 23-year old man to join the Premier League. The Reds stole the show from Manchester ...

He scored in each of his country’s group games against Senegal, Ecuador and Qatar. The Togo-born is expected in England for medical check-up and his fee could jump to £44.3 million – a record for the Dutch outfit. PSV Eindhoven, the employer, and Liverpool have inked the deal for the 23-year old man to join the Premier League.

The Dutch World Cup star fills a gap that has emerged in the Liverpool team, and may provide solutions elsewhere in the future.

The move to Liverpool will test whether he can make the step up. The 23-year-old fills that immediate need for a wide forward on the left with Diaz and Jota out injured. 8 shirt usually given to a midfielder, he played a more central role either as a striker or as an attacking midfielder between two wide forwards. The Senegalese didn’t look like a typical target man but was nevertheless effective in this role. The transfer rumour mill, when combined with video games and fantasy football, can lead to a skewed perception of how soccer’s transfer market works. Standing at around 6 foot 2, he looks more like a typical target man but is perhaps most effective as a winger. It was likely accelerated by a setback to the recovery of Luis Diaz from injury. Names such as Jude Bellingham, Enzo Fernandez, and Moises Caicedo have been linked with the club, but wanting a player, and them being available, are two separate things. It doesn’t necessarily affect their pursuit of a midfielder. He has played mostly on the left wing for PSV, cutting inside onto his stronger right foot, but for the Netherlands, as seen at the World Cup where he wore the No. It is something the club are looking to address, and something they tried to do in a fashion at the end of the 2022 summer transfer window with the last-minute signing of Arthur. The transfer is a rare example of a club needing to fill a gap in their squad midseason and a quality player potentially able to fill it being available at the right time.

Liverpool beating United to the same targets when the Red Devils are the first to the negotiating table is becoming a trend.

Already established amongst the elite, there is less playing staff investment for a new backer to have to sink in. Liverpool lost the title by a single point on two occasions and was defeated in a pair of Champions League Finals. As both clubs’ owners have admitted to being open to the idea of a sale they potentially competing for interested buyers. They are certainly no longer the most attractive club in England to play for. "Hopefully Cody can go to the moon and back," said the towering center-half as Gakpo continued his scoring streak in the Middle East. There is still so much potential and I hope he can carry on showing it for us. “For the future, for investing in a new stadium and a latest-and-greatest training ground we’ve got to do something,” Today it might be missing out on Nunez and Gakpo, if it’s not careful the risk for United is tomorrow it won’t even be in the conversation. In the same period, United has only had one season where it has been a rival to winners Manchester City and even then it was at a lengthy distance. When it comes to infrastructure, the team has a brand new training ground and made substantial upgrades to its stadium. But Liverpool beating United to the same targets when the Red Devils are the first to the negotiating table is becoming a trend. "What we see in training is what you see on the pitch.