It was a winning return to Premier League action for Liverpool, with the Reds sealing a 3-1 away victory against Aston Villa. Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk were on target, with 18-year-old Stefan Bajčetić putting the game beyond doubt with a superb piece of skill.
Just hours later, fans celebrated the signing of Dutch attacker Cody Gakpo. The 23-year-old will bolster an attack without Luis Díaz for an extended period, with Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino also unavailable.
As with previous deals for players such as Fabinho, the negotiations were completed quickly, catching out fans and pundits alike, with no hint of a possible transfer ‘saga’.
On the latest episode of our Journo Insight show, we asked goal.com’s Neil Jones to take us through the signing.
Neil said:
“I think this is something that’s happened quite quickly. I think what’s happened in Dubai with Luis Díaz’s injury setback, Jota… I wouldn’t say that the Firmino injury has had any real major impact, but if you needed a reminder of how fragile the tightrope was…
I think the highest fee it will be is £44 million, €50 million. It’s not a fee that you look at and go, ‘that’s really heavily World Cup taxed.’ Once you find out the fee’s okay, he can come in, he’s semi-ready, he’s been playing a lot of football and he’s had a break after the World Cup, we need to get him now because if we don’t, he won’t be available in the summer. I would say the second half of December, I think it’s really gone from an ‘option’ to a ‘priority’.
I spoke to Jules [Ward] and I don’t think he had much of a Christmas in terms of a family Christmas and a traditional Christmas! I think he was doing a lot of work. He was thrashing out the deal with PSV and with Marcel Brands. Liverpool have put a lot of work in – Julian Ward, Dave Fallows, Barry Hunter put a lot of work into making sure this deal was ready to go.
I think the best thing you can say is if you look at Liverpool’s record when they take the plunge on a player, we’ve mentioned a few there already: Díaz, Jota, Núñez I think will come into that category, Salah, Mane, Van Dijk, Fabinho – they tend to get it right.”
Redmen Reacts
What an eventful Boxing Day it was! The turkey sandwiches will have tasted all the better following Liverpool’s good display against Aston Villa and the signing of Cody Gakpo. The Dutchman may need to be immediately called into action, with Luis Díaz suffering an unfortunate injury setback. Gakpo has experience both coming in off the left and playing down the centre, so he could prove a versatile option in attack. The fee seems a reasonable one for one of the finest talents in the Eredivisie, especially considering it is around half of what Manchester United paid for Antony, and Gakpo was one of the main attacking threats for the Netherlands in Qatar. Almost all of Jürgen Klopp’s attacking signings – Díaz, Mané, Salah etc. – have started their Liverpool careers like a house on fire. Hopefully, the trend will repeat itself!
TO HEAR MORE FROM NEIL ON TOPICS SUCH AS ENZO FERNANDEZ, CLICK HERE
