The 2024/25 campaign has been the best Liverpool fans have seen of Cody Gakpo in a red shirt.
Gakpo was linked with a move to Liverpool while competing with the Netherlands at the 2022 FIFA World Cup before eventually joining the Reds the following month as part of a deal with PSV Eindhoven.
The Dutch forward made a slow start to life at Anfield but really started to come alive during the backend of last season as Jurgen Klopp’s time on Merseyside was coming to an end.
Arne Slot has got the best out of Gakpo this season as the 25-year-old has had a big impact on Liverpool’s successful campaign so far across the 32 games he has featured in, producing 14 goals and five assists.
Michael Owen is one of several pundits to praise Gakpo for the improvement he has shown at Liverpool this season but things could have been a to different for the forward had he opted to join Man United in 2022.
- READ MORE: Paul Merson details how Cody Gakpo has improved at Liverpool this season after 4-1 win vs Ipswich
Cody Gakpo was very close to being a Man United player
Gakpo returns to PSV on Wednesday night as Liverpool look to put a bow on the league phase of their Champions League campaign by earning a point to top the table.
The Dutch star has been speaking ahead of this emotional clash and detailed how close he came to becoming a Man United player in 2022.
‘In the summer of 2022, I was almost planning to leave [PSV] and I almost went to Man United. In the end, they didn’t want me anymore, things happened,’ Gakpo told TNT Sports.
‘Then I could stay here at PSV, or go to two other clubs, and I just prayed about it and found the answer in some goals that I scored. If I scored a hat-trick, I should stay and it was the first hat-trick of my career.’
That hat-trick Gakpo scored in a 7–1 win over Volendam in August 2022 changed the trajectory of the 25-year-old’s career as a move then would certainly mean that he would not be at Liverpool.
The Netherlands international seems to have found the perfect coach for him in Arne Slot and together the duo could make history on Merseyside this season as they continue to fight on all four fronts.
- READ MORE: Claude Makelele raves about Cody Gakpo after Liverpool beat Ipswich 4-1 in the Premier League
How would Cody Gakpo’s career look at Man United?
Gakpo is ‘as good as he’s ever been’ at Liverpool this season according to commentator Jim Beglin and had he joined Man United that would not have been the case.
Erik ten Hag took over as Man United boss during the summer of 2022 and Gakpo would certainly have improved during that campaign as the Dutch coach made an instant impact at Old Trafford.
However, the next two seasons did not go so well for Ten Hag as his United squad declined and that resulted in the former Ajax boss being sacked by the Manchester club at the start of this season.
There is place for Gakpo in the current Man United squad out left in Ten Hag’s system and behind the striker in Ruben Amoirm’s, but the 25-year-old would have been caught up in all this mess.
That would certainly have impacted the Dutch talent’s performances and the Liverpool star will be thankful that faith intervened and steered his life towards the direction of Anfield, where he is currently shining bright.
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