Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has suggested that new signing Cody Gakpo is most likely to play on the left of a front three, but has praised the 23-year-old’s ability to fill a number of different attacking positions when required. appreciate of its.
The Reds have now completed a deal worth up to £50m for Gakpo, who has enjoyed an impressive 18 months at PSV Eindhoven and recently shone at the World Cup for the Netherlands.
Manchester United were leading the chase, but Liverpool beat their Premier League rivals to pull off one of the biggest deals this January.
“He’s a really, really good player so the package is really interesting. That’s why we were very interested in bringing him in and I’m really happy we could do it,” Klopp told a press conference on Thursday. A ‘great day’ for all involved.
The Liverpool boss was also glad there wasn’t much more to the public about the deal until it was all over.
“The way we brought Cody in is a really good sign. Very few people knew about it and nothing came out which is very, very helpful,” he explained.
As for what Liverpool fans can expect to see from Gekpo on the pitch, Klopp already has a clear idea.
“The position he’s played most often is on the left, that’s obvious. But if you play 4-2-3-1 and is still very young, he can play all four positions forward,” the Liverpool boss explained. That his preferred position is probably on the left side of a 4-3-3.
The Reds signed Luis Diaz to play on the left this time last year, then allowed Sadio Mane to move to Bayern Munich in the summer. But the Colombian has missed most of the season through injury, with fellow forward Diego Jota also unavailable.
Klopp insisted that the decision to sign Gakpo was not affected by the absence of Diaz and Jota, stressing that the recruitment decision was made some time ago. “The only influencing factor in that regard may be the decision to do it now rather than wait until the summer,” he said.
“We decided to do something from a sporting perspective two or three months ago without getting the green light from the financial side,” commented the boss. Ho,” commented the boss.