Liverpool have officially signed cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven, Liverpool announced on Wednesday.
Cody Gakpo’s transfer fee is around £37 million ($45 million, according to a report by ESPN.
Liverpool have beaten Manchester United to sign Gakpo.
Manchester United are reportedly interested in bringing in Gakpo as a replacement for Ronaldo who left United at the end of last month.
“I feel very good, I am very happy to be here. I am looking forward to starting training and starting to play for this amazing club,” Gakpo said in a statement as quoted by ESPN.
“I think it’s a great club for me to come in and try to show what I can [do] and try to help the team to achieve the more beautiful moments they have done in the last few years.”
“I think for me personally it’s also good to develop here and there are a lot of great players here [from whom] I can learn a lot of things,” he continued.
Gakpo scored three goals for the Netherlands in the World Cup before being knocked out in the quarter-finals at the hands of Argentina.
“Obviously [my goal is] to win as many prizes as a team, to perform well, to show the world what we can do as a team and what I can do as a player. And personally, just to keep improving and becoming a better player. every season,” added Cody Gakpo.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says that Cody Gakpo does not need convincing to join Liverpool, although compatriot Virgil van Dijk spoke to Gakpo prior to his move from PSV Eindhoven.
“Before he technically signed, yes, but Virg was involved from a certain moment. But we didn’t tell him ‘Talk to him’ because there was no reason to. When I was allowed to talk to him, I talked to him,” Klopp said when asked if Van Dijk spoke with Gakpo before signing the contract as quoted by ESPN.
“There are some nice moments when you are manager of Liverpool FC and you realize you think you have to convince someone and then you realize during your talk, ‘Oh, the door is wide open, it’s more or less a home run. ‘ And that’s cool,” Klopp continued. .
“So we didn’t need Virgil to convince him. But after that, obviously Virgil likes to get involved in these kinds of things and from a certain moment he said it too. But it’s all good,” he added.
After signing a contract with Liverpool, Gakpo said that Van Dijk told him that moving to Liverpool would help him to “develop and become a better player.”
“What he told me is that this is the right step for me to take and for me to develop and become a better player, that this club is a very big and massive club but also like a real family,” Gakpo told the club. as quoted by ESPN.
“I think it’s also very important for me because I’m a family man. He only has good things to say. I’m also happy that he’s here, so he can help me with some things.”
