Cody Gakpo has described a “very tough” summer in which a proposed move to Manchester City fell through, with the Liverpool forward confirming that his club changed their minds about allowing him to join their Premier League rivals.
The Netherlands international was an £80m target for City in August before talks stalled. Asked whether he had expected to leave Liverpool, Gakpo said: “It was a difficult summer for me, and my family, and everything surrounding football and life. I just let it come, and it ended how it ended.” When it was put to him that Liverpool were willing to let him go before reversing that position, he replied: “Spot on.”
The summer had also brought personal tragedy. Gakpo announced with his partner, Noa van der Bij, that their second son had died during pregnancy in June. “It’s a very long story. The summer was very tough regarding everything,” he said. “So I just let everything be and see how it came and it worked out in this way. I cannot choose. So then I have to just try to do what I’m good at, and that’s playing football. I can be very worried about everything that could happen, or that didn’t happen, or whatever, but that wouldn’t help the situation.”
Gakpo has not allowed the collapsed transfer to affect his form. He scored in Liverpool’s opening-weekend draw against Newcastle and in their Carabao Cup win over Spurs, and has recorded five assists, while on Thursday he struck a superb stoppage-time equaliser to earn the Netherlands a 1-1 draw against Germany in the Nations League. Germany are managed by Jürgen Klopp, Gakpo’s former club manager.
“It’s not about my character,” Gakpo said of his response. “I’m now at the point that I don’t mind, I just want to enjoy football with my friends, with my teammates. I want to enjoy my life and whatever happens, happens. If I have no control over the situation, I will not worry. So I just do my job with that.”
He also acknowledged there is room for improvement after a disappointing season for Liverpool that ended with the departure of Arne Slot, admitting he “could do much better than I did last year”.
Virgil van Dijk, his Netherlands captain and Liverpool teammate, made clear how highly Gakpo is valued at Anfield after the late volley against Germany. “If people didn’t appreciate Cody before, personally I don’t understand it,” Van Dijk said. “But I think it was a no-brainer for us as a team and a club to keep him. There were talks but, in my eyes, you can’t let him go and that’s why I said it. He is a friend as well. Ours, please – let’s keep it that way.”