Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo is set to fly to the Netherlands this mid-week to say his goodbyes to former club PSV Eindhoven.
Gakpo left PSV for Liverpool in January, bringing an end to 16 years on the books of his home-town club. Having not returned to the Philips Stadion since the move, Eindhovens Dagblad claim that the 23-year-old will do so this Thursday.
The Dutch paper claims that Gakpo will be in the stands to watch PSV take on Sevilla in the Europa League.
From there, Liverpool’s £35m signing will reportedly ‘wave goodbye’ to the club where he made his name. Sandwiched two days between the Reds’ matches against Real Madrid and Crystal Palace, it’ll be a tight turnaround for Gakpo.
Gakpo earns his goodbye
With Liverpool right in the middle of a crucial period of the season, this wouldn’t seem like the best time for Cody to do this.
The Netherlands international has finally hit some form for the Reds – bagging in each of his last two games.
As a result of that, he’ll surely begin tonight’s massive clash with Madrid. Should that go well, Jurgen Klopp will want to keep his good form going with a start at Palace.
However, it should also be said that Klopp has options returning in his position. Gakpo has played a lot of football since arriving last month.
Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino are both now coming back to fitness. The two players will be champing at the bit to take Gakpo’s place in the team.
It’s important not to place too much burden on either player after lengthy absences. But by the time Saturday rolls around, one or the other should be in a position to start a game for the first time in a while. This should allow Cody a little rest after his jet-setting.
Either way, it’s obviously important to Gakpo to get his moment with his fans. He was a superb player for PSV since breaking into the first team in 2018.
His story with them may have now ended, but the bond with PSV’s supporters surely never will. Klopp won’t want to stand in the way of that and so long as it doesn’t impact his plans with Liverpool, it’s fine.