Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo appears to have returned to Netherlands training following a bout of illness last week.
Gakpo was sent home from the Dutch camp on Thursday, suffering from an apparent virus. The news created worry from Liverpool fans that the 23-year-old would miss their tricky upcoming Premier League schedule.
But now – as per a video released on the Netherlands official Twitter page – Cody is back and ready to take on Gibraltar today.
Gakpo recovers from ‘strange’ absence
This is fantastic news for Liverpool. The last thing they needed heading into the home straight of the season was another absentee.
Obviously, an illness isn’t an injury and Gakpo would have been expected to recover relatively quickly anyway. But that he now should be fine to take on Manchester City on Saturday is clearly a big boost.
There was some mystery surrounding the circumstances of his illness, so that wasn’t always a given. He wasn’t the only one affected in the Netherlands squad, with four other players also being sent home. Rumours quickly spread that the cause of the illness was a dodgy chicken curry. But speaking to NOS last week, Virgil van Dijk moved to dismiss such talk.
“I don’t know where that story comes from. I also ate chicken curry myself and it was delicious. Whether that is the cause? No idea. No one has an idea. I can’t imagine,” said the Liverpool centre-back.
“It was very strange. In our group app, messages suddenly came through that some boys were going home, that they were ill. That was a bit of a shock.”
His team could have done with Gakpo on Friday, as they were battered 4-0 by France. They should have better luck when taking on Gibraltar this evening. A couple of goals for Cody would do very nicely.