Manchester United fans will remember all too well how rivals Liverpool pipped the side to Cody Gakpo’s signature in December 2022.
The Red Devils had been long linked with the Dutch forward prior to his Anfield move, namely in Erik ten Hag’s maiden transfer window as manager. However, he instead opted to ignite a pursuit of his former Ajax protegee Antony, who set the club back an eye-watering £86 million.
Even back then, the package deal for Antony was perplexing given that he had lower goal contributions than Gakpo, and facilitating a move for the latter would’ve been much easier to come by given PSV Eindhoven’s – then managed by former Red Ruud van Nistelrooy – financial situation.
United then shelved their interest in Gakpo after concluding a mega-money refresh of Ten Hag’s squad, paving the way for Liverpool to swoop in and meet PSV’s asking price midway through the campaign in the winter window.
You probably don’t need us to get into just how worlds apart the two former Eredivisie attackers have fared, but the below graphic details that one has had significantly more of an impact despite costing £51m less (excluding Gakpo’s add-ons).
Gakpo opens up on United talks
When reflecting on his links to the Old Trafford outfit, Gakpo revealed to Sky Sports: “I think it was the summer before [I joined Liverpool] that I was in contact with the club [United]. I spoke to the manager [Ten Hag] from them as well, obviously, he’s Dutch so yeah, I spoke to him as well.
“But at the end, it didn’t go through and that’s just it. In the winter, Liverpool came… best decision for me.”
