Jurgen Klopp says securing Cody Gakpo deal before January transfer window opens is ‘home run’ for Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp says he did not need Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk to work as a scout to lure Cody Gakpo to Anfield, as the door was already “wide open”.

After seeing off competition from other clubs including rivals Manchester United, Liverpool struck a deal reportedly worth £37m, which could rise up to £45m with potential add-ons.

Gakpo leaves the Eredivisie sitting on top of the league’s scoring charts, having struck nine times in 14 games before the World Cup break.

It was in Qatar where Gakpo’s stock continued to rise, starring for the Netherlands at the tournament with his three goals coming against the hosts, Senegal and Ecuador.

Gakpo plays with Van Dijk for his national side, but Klopp promises he did not send his defender to the competition with a mission to entice the 23-year-old to Liverpool.

“Virgil had a word before he technically signed, but we didn’t tell him specifically to speak to him,” said the Liverpool manager.

“When you are manager of Liverpool, you think you have to convince someone – but then you realise the door is more or less wide open, it’s a home run.”

Gakpo will be eligible to play from January 1, 2023, a day before Liverpool take on Brentford in the Premier League.

Klopp thinks that could be too soon, saying, “We are very early [with the transfer], which is good. There might be a chance he could play against Brentford, but not really. January 1 is a Bank Holiday, and there’s all the papers which would need to be signed on January 2 before lunch time. I’m not too positive that will happen – but we won’t rush it anyway.”

Talking about why he was keen to complete the signing, Klopp added: “He’s a really, really good player. The package is really interesting.

“The potential he has, the quality he showed already in Holland and the national team as well. It makes him a really interesting player. That’s why we were very interested to get him in, and I’m really happy we could do it.

With Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz out of action with long-term injuries, Gakpo provides Klopp with more firepower to supplement Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Roberto Firmino.

Thinking about how Gakpo will fit into his line-up, Klopp said: “The position he’s played most often is left wing, that’s clear, but he can play in different positions. He can play in all four up front, he’s played in different positions for PSV and Holland.

“He’s still very young but he’s been in a really good run of form, not only for PSV but at the World Cup too. And Holland were playing with a formation which wasn’t necessarily striker friendly, he had to defend a lot, and he did it pretty well.”

“He would probably say himself he prefers to play on the left wing in a 4-3-3. That doesn’t mean he will just do that for us, we know he can play in the other positions”, Klopp said.

With Gakpo through the door already, and with the January transfer window yet to open, Klopp has been questioned about other potential incomings to the club.

“It’s part of the discussions we have in the board room, not in the press room”, he said.

“In principle it’s like this for all the people in the world. The money you spend has an impact of what you can spend. We know what we want to do, we will see if we can do it, and it’s about money of course but more about the right players.”

“We are really, really happy that we could get Cody.”

A tough start to the season sees Liverpool lingering in sixth place in the Premier League table – 15 points behind leaders Arsenal going into their next match against Leicester.

Looking ahead to that game at Anfield, Klopp said: “The good thing is, the break we had, everything feels really fresh again. We’re really excited, full of desire to go again, go again, go again and the next opportunity is the Leicester game – and shortly after that the Brentford match!”

After struggling with injury issues in the first part of the campaign, Klopp is happy to welcome a face back into the squad, saying: “It’s all good for the moment, no new injury problems after the [Aston Villa] game, not that a lot would come back for the game apart from Ibou [Konate] who is training with us now.”