Cody Gakpo: Liverpool and Man Utd for World Cup star?

• Published before Netherlands beat USA in World Cup round of 16

The PSV forward was in the form of his career and a handful of Europe’s elite were reportedly keeping tabs on him.

Those that weren’t certainly are now.

The 23-year-old scored in all three group stage matches, netting a header against Senegal, arrowing a left-footed drive past Hernán Galíndez in the 1-1 draw with Ecuador before adding a calm right-footed effort in the win over Qatar as Louis Van Gaal’s side topped Group A.

His return of three goals from three games is even more impressive when you consider Van Gaal has tweaked the team in every single match.

Against Senegal, Gakpo was deployed behind a front two made up of Steven Bergwijn and Vincent Janssen. In the draw with Ecuador, Gakpo partnered Bergwijn in attack and then in the win over Qatar, he was joined by Memphis Depay as part of a two-man frontline.

That variety in his finishes is Gakpo in a nutshell. He is just a goalscorer. The forward can finish with either foot and he is able to put his 6ft 4in frame to good use in the air.

Having seen what Ajax pocketed for Antony in the summer, PSV will no doubt be quietly confident about receiving a club-record fee for Gakpo, if he was to depart. The current record is the €45million Napoli parted with to sign Hirving Lozano.

After his performances at the World Cup, the largest shop window possible, the Dutch giants will be fairly bullish at the negotiation table and, according to Voetbal International, they now expect a minimum of £50million for the versatile forward.

The price may seem a little steep for a player with only just over 3,000 Eredivisie minutes under his belt. He is yet to break the 2,000 minute barrier in the Dutch top-flight in a single campaign. Injuries limited his involvement in 2020/21 and 2021/22.

Spending big money on Gakpo does come with risk but his numbers suggest he might be worth the gamble.

He already has nine goals and 12 assists in the Eredivisie in a little over 1,100 minutes. The right-footed forward also has three goals and two assists in the Europa League.

At first glance, this sort of return might not seem sustainable but Gakpo did exactly the same last season when he scored 12 goals and assisted a further 13 in just 1,900 minutes. It was the most productive campaign of his career and he looks set to better that this time around, barring a spectacular drop-off.

Gakpo is overperforming when looking at his actual goal return against his Expected Goals (xG) averages but it isn’t that excessive.

Furthermore, if he was to revert to his xG average, he would still be a serious goal threat - with a 0.4 xG per 90 average over the past 18 months. If he was able to transfer that sort of return to the Premier League, he would be a 15-goal-per-season sort of wide forward.

But for that to happen, he would need the perfect environment with everything geared towards his being able to play his natural game. He has spent the majority of his career playing on the left side of the attack and being able to cut inside and become a second striker.

The 23-year-old has also played as a centre-forward and it makes sense given his height and physique, as he is more than able to lead the line. Any interested club would have to be able to use him in either of those positions. It is worth noting that just 1,200 of the 16,000 minutes he’s played throughout his career have come on the right.

That isn’t to say a player as talented as Gakpo couldn’t play as a right-sided attacker, just that he hasn’t been used there much during his career and that his record when deployed there isn’t the greatest. If you are spending big money on a player, you are going to want to use them correctly. Otherwise, you are just making it difficult for him to be a success.

Liverpool and Manchester United appear to be two of the frontrunners for his signature.

Hans Kraay Jr claimed he had spoken with Pep Lijnders and was told that Gakpo was called the “missing link” by Liverpool’s assistant manager. Marcel Brands, the director of football at PSV, followed this up by saying Liverpool would be a good club to send the player to in the summer.

There have since been reports in Holland that the Reds will hold talks with the player and his agents after his participation at the World Cup comes to an end.

Where he fits in at Anfield is a bit of a conundrum.

Luis Diaz has the left-wing role locked down and isn’t really versatile enough to be used anywhere else. Liverpool also have Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez as options on the left if required. Even when deployed as centre-forwards, both Jota and Nunez favour the left side and often drift out there.

Finding a role that suits Gakpo wouldn’t be that straightforward. But we’ve seen Jurgen Klopp make things work in the past, so why not this time around too?

Manchester United have a similar problem. Sort of.

The Red Devils have a number of players who can play the left-wing role, with Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Jadon Sancho, Anthony Elanga and Alejandro Garnacho all comfortable in that area of the pitch.

There is an opening in attack now that Cristiano Ronaldo has departed but that wouldn’t be a like-for-like replacement. Gakpo is still fairly raw in his development as a centre-forward and he hasn’t yet developed the hold-up part of his game, something that the No.9 needs if they are to lead the line for Erik ten Hag.

Gakpo could add that over time but, in the short term, there might be teething issues.

There does, however, come a point where a team just finds a way to get a player into their starting XI. If the Dutch forward keeps scoring and claims an unlikely Golden Boot, there will be a scramble for his signature as every club wants a goalscorer within their ranks.

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