After the amount of noise surrounding Cody Gakpo’s move from PSV Eindhoven last night, it’s easy to forget that Liverpool actually have a football match with Leicester City on Friday evening.
As is customary and part of the preparation for that, Jurgen Klopp faced reporters today to discuss plans for the match as well as answer questions related to Gakpo’s move. This is the first time that Klopp has spoken to and answered questions from reporters and journalists since the news broke of Gakpo’s signing.
When asked about the player Klopp said, “He’s a really good player. The package is really interesting. The age, the quality he showed already. That’s why we were very interested. It’s big for us.
“He’s a young player with a lot of potential. If he had scored 40 goals, not in Holland but in Spain he would have been unaffordable. We believe in our process.
“He can play different positions – wing or striker positions. He’s still so young.”
Many have suggested that the reason Liverpool moved for the player was because of injuries to Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota but Klopp confirmed that wasn’t the case and Gakpo was a long term targeting saying, “The injuries were not at all an impact. We decided to do something from a sports point of view without having the financial green light already, two or three months ago.”
When asked about when fans will be able to see him in action and a possible debut date for the player Klopp said, “There might be a chance for Brentford but not really I think. Wolves is more likely.”
Another question came in on any future signings to which Klopp replied, “I like very much what Pep (Lijnders) said – we discuss these things in the board room and not the press room. To bring in Cody the way we did is a really good sign. Quite a few people knew about it and nothing came out which is helpful.”
That will bring encouragement to a lot of fans, who have been really pleased with the way that Liverpool got this signing done before the window even opened.
One of the questions that many fans are asking is what this means for Firmino, whose contract finishes in the summer. Klopp was pushed on whether Gakpo signing impacts the way that Liverpool view Firmino’s future to which he said, “We’re in talks with Bobby and I want him to stay. No impact.”
So looks like good news for Firmino also.
