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Cody Gakpo has admitted he worried his move to Liverpool in 2023 would collapse, having been let down previously by another club.
The forward arrived at Anfield during the January window of the 2022/23 campaign, having agreed a deal to sign from PSV Eindhoven just before the turn of the year.
Gakpo has since gone on to become an integral part of the Reds’ side, having made a total of 138 appearances for the club so far, scoring 43 goals in the process. 18 of those came last season - along with seven assists - as he helped Arne Slot’s team to the Premier League title.
Before signing for Liverpool though, the 26-year-old was concerned that his chance in the Premier League may not come, having seen another move collapse beforehand.
Lifting the lid on how he found about the move to Anfield, Gakpo told Discovery Plus: “I was in Dubai and my brother and my agent called me. They said there was serious interest from Liverpool, and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, amazing, that’s good’.
“But I didn’t want to jump through the roof because the last time a club came, it collapsed. So I stayed one more day in Dubai and had to come home for Christmas.
“It went pretty fast, but I knew it was the right move because I was calm on the inside, that was a sign from God that it was the right move.”
The club involved in the collapse is likely to have been Manchester United, with Gakpo also revealing how he had come close to making the move to Old Trafford just months before he joined Liverpool.
“Yeah, it was the summer of 2022. It was deadline day I guess yeah,” Gakpo said.
“The weeks before there was a lot of interest, maybe I was going to United and stuff, but they ended up buying Antony. So I couldn’t go there anymore.”
Gakpo’s comments come after former United coach Benni McCarthy confirmed the Red Devils had come close to signing Gakpo, only for the club to then decide against the move.
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“Cody Gakpo was the one that we wanted the most and missed out on,” McCarthy told betonlinepromocodes.com earlier this year.
“I think he was the first player that we sat down and discussed, and decided that he was the player who would fit in perfectly. We knew we could play him alongside Marcus Rashford, when Rashy was really on song in 2022.
“I think we were so close to getting him. At one stage, it was ours to lose. The agent knew Erik, and there were really good talks.
McCarthy added: “Then I was told the scouting department had watched him numerous times and they didn’t rate him.
“They said the stats weren’t right. For me, with my experience, I know what you need to deliver at a special club. You don’t need stats to tell you that. The naked eye gives you so much more than just stats.”
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