Why did Liverpool close the Gakpo deal early?

'He is a young player with a lot of potential,' coach Jurgen Klopp said of Gakpo on December 30. "If he scored 40 goals in Spain, we would not be able to buy Gakpo. Buying players needs to happen at the right time. Liverpool need to get this guy at a time when he hasn't scored 55 goals a season or something."

Gakpo has been a target of Man Utd since the summer of 2022. However, Liverpool has accelerated the negotiation process to have the service of the Dutch international. After three consecutive days of negotiations, Liverpool's sporting director, Julian Ward, finalized a deal with PSV on December 26. Liverpool had to pay a transfer fee of $ 45 million with an additional $15 million in fees, to have Gakpo's services. With a total cost of $60 million, Gakpo is the most expensive sale in PSV history. But for Klopp, this price is still cheap compared to Gakpo's real value.

"I want to talk about a principle: how much you spend today affects how much you can spend in the future," Klopp said. "We know what Liverpool want to do with the right players. We're really happy to have Cody."

Gakpo made great progress last season when he scored 21 and assisted 15 goals to help PSV finish second in the Dutch league. In the first 24 matches of the 2022-2023 season, Gakpo has scored 13 goals and provided 18 assists. The player who has just scored three goals for the Netherlands at the 2022 World Cup made his Liverpool debut on December 28. On the evening of December 30, he sat in the stands to watch Liverpool's 2-1 win over Leicester at Anfield. Gakpo will officially become a Liverpool player when the transfer window opens on January 1, 2023, and can play in the match against Brentford in the Premier League on January 3 or against Wolves in the third round of the FA Cup on January 8. /first.

"We believe in the team process," added Klopp. "When the attacking players come here, they all improve. We can help Gakpo and believe that he can shine even more."

Before recruiting Gakpo, Liverpool's attack had owned Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Fabio Carvalho and Roberto Firmino. Coach Klopp said the team still wants to buy more people in January. The British press said that Liverpool are contacting Jude Bellingham, the English midfielder also shines brightly in the 2022 World Cup like Gakpo.