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Blowing up the "Devils" negotiations, Van Dijk kidnapped Gakpo with a... phone call

2022-12-28 16:27:36, Sport CNA

The surprise transfer of Kodi Gakpo to Liverpool came thanks to the intervention of Virgil van Dijk. The Reds blew away Manchester United's attempts to sign the Dutch forward, reaching an agreement with the PSV club for £44 million (€50 million) late on the evening of December 26.

And to change the trajectory of the 23-year-old, who seemed destined for "Old Trafford", an important phone call in the last moments of the defender of Liverpool and the captain of the Dutch national team, Virgil van Dijk, also influenced.

According to local newspaper "Eindhovens Dagblad", Van Dijk called his teammate to convince him to move to "Anfield Road". And this is one of the reasons why Gakpo was convinced to choose Jyrgen Klopp's team in the end. Many of the biggest teams in Europe were interested in the services of the PSV star, who also made a fantastic appearance in the World Cup with the "Tulips". Manchester United had been in talks with the Dutch club for some time but had yet to make a concrete financial offer and on Monday suffered the blow of losing one of their main transfer targets since last summer. Liverpool were in need of a striker after Luis Diaz suffered a serious knee injury, while Darwin Nunez is struggling to find his footing in the Premier League following his move from Benfica.

After Liverpool's 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Tuesday, in which Van Dijk scored one of the goals, the centre-back said the team needed new faces in the January transfer window: "We hope the injured players can come back quickly and we hope we can welcome some new players to our club. Let's see. I think that quality is always welcome in Liverpool". Van Dijk has always spoken highly of Gakpo, and the captain's latest praise for the Dutch talent came during the Qatar World Cup: “We hope Kodi goes to the moon and back again. He is a very good player, but also a good guy. What we see in training is what you see on the field. There is still a lot of potential and I hope he continues to show it for us. We are all satisfied with it."





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