Cody Gakpo: What would forward bring to Leeds as Raphinha's replacement?

By Sporting Life

Football

Tue July 05, 2022 · 2y ago

Leeds and Tottenham have been strongly linked with a move for PSV winger Cody Gakpo, one of the stars of the Dutch Eredivisie this season.

The 23-year-old finished 21/22 on 21 goals and 15 assists in 46 games in all competitions, inevitably attracting Premier League interest.

The Eindhoven youth academy graduate has been with the club all his life and made the long-awaited step up to the first team in 2018.

Leeds are planning for life without Brazil star Raphinha, who is a rumoured target for Barcelona, Tottenham and Arsenal amongst others, with the Elland Road club reportedly holding out for £65m.

Gakpo and Bruges' Charles De Ketelaere have been earmarked by Fabrizio Romano as potential replacements for the Yorkshire side, who have already been busy in the transfer window.

They have signed RB Salzburg duo Brenden Aaronson (£22m) and Rasmus Kristensen (£10m), along with Bayern Munich's Marc Roca (£10m).

But what could Gakpo bring to Jesse Marsch's new-look side?

Composure is key

In the past two seasons, Gakpo has maintained consistency in his overall output, scoring seven league goals in the 19/20 and 20/21 season. In 21/22 he finished with 12 goals.

Cutting inside onto his favourite right foot from the left wing, Gakpo is primarily a highly offensive left-sided winger who thrives in attacking space on the ball.

Gakpo combines an icy composure in the final third with the vision for a key pass or an important switch.

He rarely puts a foot wrong in possession and is able to use his silky close control to dribble past markers and help his team escape the opposition press.

Being over 6ft tall, Gakpo's height allows him to cover long distances with larger strides on the ball, his slender body frames makes him tricky to man-mark as well.

Dual-threat as creator and taker of chances

The Eredivisie ace stands out on a number of metrics this season, averaging 0.41 xG/95 and 0.40 xA/95 indicating a dual-threat not just as a goal-scorer but also as a creative threat on and off the ball.

In fact, that combined expected goal involvement (xGI = xG + xA) ranked him as the fourth biggest attacking threat in the league last term.

He is also a high-volume shooter, averaging 3.71 shots/95 this season in the league.

Stylistically, he is a great fit for a number of teams in the Premier League, including Leeds should they be forced to let go of Raphinha this summer.