Liverpool winger, Cody Gakpo, has revealed the name of his toughest opponent in the English Premier League. The 25-year old Dutch winger joined the Reds in 2022. Liverpool won the race for the Dutch international after edging out Manchester United.
The Red Devils were relentlessly in the pursuit of signing Gakpo. Especially, since the 25-year old’s incredible performances for PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie.
Despite being one of the top talents in the world, Gakpo has produced a mix bag of performances at Anfield. The Dutchman has failed to fully live up to his potential until now.
Cody Gakpo’s impressive rise: A coveted commodity for any club!
Gakpo began his youth career with PSV in 2007 as an 8-year old. Gakpo would rise through the ranks and secure a place in the senior team for the first time in 2016. The 25-year old would play for PSV Eindhoven’s reserve team Jong PSV in the Eerste Divisie.
Subsequently, Gakpo made his debut for PSV’s first team in 2018 as a substitute. The winger kept on improving and netted 55 times in 159 appearances for PSV in his 6 years in the Eredivsie. The Dutchman’s impressive contributions helped PSV to win the Eredivisie in 2018. Moreover, the 25-year old enjoyed further success as PSV won the KNVB Cup in 2022 and Johan Cruyff Shield in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Cody Gakpo began his international career as a young talent with the Netherlands U18 squad in 2016. Furthermore, Gakpo would go on to play for the senior squad in 2021. Since then, the 25-year old has won 23 national caps and scored 9 goals for the Oranje. Additionally, Gakpo would be named as the Dutch Footballer of the Year for the 2021-22 campaign.
The winger’s performances wouldn’t go unnoticed. Henceforth, multiple clubs were in the race to sign the prolific winger. The Reds were able to successfully negotiate a transfer for Gakpo offering a fee between £35.4 to £44.3 million to PSV. Since then, Gakpo has made 77 appearances scoring 22 goals for Liverpool.
Gakpo was impressive in his first season at Anfield. However, Klopp preferred Darwin Nunez over the Dutch international. Moreover, the 25-year old would be played out of position as a midfielder and would mostly warm the bench in this campaign. The Dutch international has stated that he feels of Anfield as his home. Henceforth, Gakpo will be keen to deliver his best for the Merseyside Reds.
Cody Gakpo reveals his toughest opponent in the Premier League
Since his move to the Premier League, Cody Gakpo has come across some of the world’s best defenders. Moreover, the 25-year old has played in 3 different positions as a center forward, a winger and a midfielder coming across skilled center-backs, full backs and holding midfielders.
Many fans and pundits believe Virgil Van Dijk to be Premier League’s best defender. William Saliba has also been turning few heads with his impressive performances at Arsenal. Manchester City’s Ruben Dias is also second to none and has been crucial to Pep Guardiola’s success at City.
However, Cody Gakpo named Brazil veteran Thiago Silva as his toughest opponent in the Premier League, speaking in an interview with Givemesport. The Brazilian recently ended his European career after leaving Chelsea at the end of the campaign.
The 25-year old spoke highly of the Brazilian in a recent interview. The winger said:
“He was just really smart. He is a little bit older now, but, yeah, a very class defender, really smart, thinking a few steps ahead. I don’t even know if I got in a physical duel with him, but he was just there, everywhere.”
While some fans may beg to differ, many would agree that Thiago Silva was one of the best defenders in the league and probably one of the best of all time during his prime.
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