Liverpool’s Dutch striker, Cody Gakpo was only hours away from joining Leeds last summer. Well, that’s according to the Leeds Chairman Andrea Radrizzani.
On Twitter, Fabrizio Romano quotes Radrizzani from his interview with DZN saying, “We were so close to sign Cody Gakpo. It was done on August Deadline Day, done with PSV too.
“Then it collapsed because of Van Gaal”.
Louis Van Gaal, who was the Netherlands national team manager at the time, did a huge favour for Gakpo.
He told him to wait until the World Cup, so he can get a better move. And that is exactly what happened.
Gakpo was the Netherlands main man at the Qatar World Cup, scoring 3 goals. He was linked with a whole host of clubs after that, ranging from Manchester United to Real Madrid.
However, Liverpool quickly signed the 23 year old from PSV in the January transfer window for a fee around £44m.
After a slow start, Gakpo has found his feet in the Liverpool side, scoring 2 goals in 6 Premier League appearances.
While he still needs time to settle in at Anfield, he has all the attributes to achieve success at Liverpool.
Leeds president Radrizzani: “We were so close to sign Cody Gakpo. It was done on August Deadline Day, done with PSV too. Then it collapsed because of Van Gaal”, tells DAZN 🇳🇱 #LUFC
“Van Gaal called Gakpo and told him to wait for because of the World Cup… then he joined #LFC”. pic.twitter.com/t9fe0shkaW
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 1, 2023
