Cody Gakpo | OFFICIAL: Liverpool player

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King Kendrick

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The more I watch tape of him, both at PSV and the WC, the more I’m convinced that he can never lead the line at United and can only be used on the wings.
 

UpWithRivers

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Paying 80 mill for Antony fkd this whole market. Liverpool fkd the Portuguese market with Nunez and Athletico with Felix. Now every half decent player is worth 80 mill plus. And Gakpo is not. Heck Antony wasnt or Felix or Nunez. I dont see where you can get a player for a decent fee anymore. We cant be spending 80 plus mill on prospects all the time. We will need 300 mill plus to fill the gaps in the team - 80 mill striker, 80 mill midfielder, 80 mill CB, 60 mill RB. And thats not even top level players like Haaland, Mbappe level. Just really good prospects. Is that what it is these days.
 

KirkDuyt

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Honestly, aside from the 3 good goals he was as anonymous as the rest of us. And he did nothing against Argentina.


Maybe you should buy Wout Weghorst instead. At least he's an actual striker.
 

V.O.

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Honestly, aside from the 3 good goals he was as anonymous as the rest of us. And he did nothing against Argentina.


Maybe you should buy Wout Weghorst instead. At least he's an actual striker.
With Ten Hag's striker history largely being Haller, Dolberg and Brobbey, I'm quite suprised we haven't already signed Wout Weghorst or another similar big lump. :nervous:
 

NoPace

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The more I watch tape of him, both at PSV and the WC, the more I’m convinced that he can never lead the line at United and can only be used on the wings.
It just feels like his 2nd best quality after scoring goals is his crossing from the left touchline. I guess he can interchange with Rashford and play out left a bit like Benzema does, but he probably makes more sense for someone else to buy who is weak at LW or even plays 2 up front and would let him drift left a ton, like some of the Italian teams lineup.

I could see Dortmund flipping Malen somewhere (even back to PSV) and using the money plus a little to go get Gapko.
 

King Kendrick

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It just feels like his 2nd best quality after scoring goals is his crossing from the left touchline. I guess he can interchange with Rashford and play out left a bit like Benzema does, but he probably makes more sense for someone else to buy who is weak at LW or even plays 2 up front and would let him drift left a ton, like some of the Italian teams lineup.

I could see Dortmund flipping Malen somewhere (even back to PSV) and using the money plus a little to go get Gapko.
I could see that as a nice Reus replacement.


It’s not just about his strengths for me though. He needs the ball on the wing as there’s premanufactured space and can view the defender approaching him. He doesn’t really like running in behind, so there’s no threat like Rashford at least pseudo-threatened to have during the 4-2-2-2 experiment.


He also seems extremely stiff to me when he holds the ball up with his back to goal. Now most of the reps as a 9 that I saw came in international play and it could very well be a valid counter argument to say the attacking concepts are much more simplified and he’d look much less a fish out of water and understand better if he knew exactly what movements should occur. I don’t personally buy that narrative as for me the performance in each position spoke volumes. Goes from invisible to their most important attacker in the match when shifted out wide from the middle.
 

NoPace

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He also seems extremely stiff to me when he holds the ball up with his back to goal.
Yeah, this worries me too. Seems a poor fit for Ten Hag's system. That's why I could see the case for Moukoko, who looks shifty back to goal, or Embolo, whose strength makes him comfortable playing back to goal and just winning fouls, though they're often in not so dangerous places, but you could see how he could take the next step and start really turning guys or becoming great at linking up, because it's so easy for him to hold up the ball.
 

King Kendrick

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Yeah, this worries me too. Seems a poor fit for Ten Hag's system. That's why I could see the case for Moukoko, who looks shifty back to goal, or Embolo, whose strength makes him comfortable playing back to goal and just winning fouls, though they're often in not so dangerous places, but you could see how he could take the next step and start really turning guys or becoming great at linking up, because it's so easy for him to hold up the ball.
I don’t think Moukoko is leaving, read somewhere he’s waiting until 18 to sign himself due to family issues or something along those lines. I think the only options are overpaying for Ramos or Sesko, or we could put it off for another year and go the cheap route using Marcus Thuram and/or Moussa Dembele, both of whom will be free this summer. Maybe Vlahovic as well but he’s giving Martial a run for most crocked of the season currently.
 

croadyman

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I don’t think Moukoko is leaving, read somewhere he’s waiting until 18 to sign himself due to family issues or something along those lines. I think the only options are overpaying for Ramos or Sesko, or we could put it off for another year and go the cheap route using Marcus Thuram and/or Moussa Dembele, both of whom will be free this summer. Maybe Vlahovic as well but he’s giving Martial a run for most crocked of the season currently.
Should be looking at the likes of Thuram/Dembele if they are free in the summer. Would allow us to bring in an Osimhen as well.
 

Luffy

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We badly need him. Our left wing is in serious trouble if Rashford and Garnacho leave or pick up a long-term injury, and Sancho's training arc doesn't have a happy outcome.
 

TheReligion

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We badly need him. Our left wing is in serious trouble if Rashford and Garnacho leave or pick up a long-term injury, and Sancho's training arc doesn't have a happy outcome.
Neither Rashford or Garnacho will be leaving the club imminently so I’d say badly needing him is a bit excessive.
 

redshaw

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Doubt PSV would accept but then again I don't think they'll be a huge queue at a higher figure of 60m Euro. If Cody wants to join us and is not so keen on similar offers we could have a chance at 50m Euro I guess. He's having a great season so maybe they'd still want to keep him until the summer at least.
 

pcaming

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We badly need him. Our left wing is in serious trouble if Rashford and Garnacho leave or pick up a long-term injury, and Sancho's training arc doesn't have a happy outcome.
By this logic we should be signing a RW and not him.

I'm not sold on our need of him, he's clearly talented, but I'm not sure he's what the squad need at this point in time.
 

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Gonna be an interesting one. ETH seems dead set on him being a valuable addition, while the majority of us think it's a bad fit and unnecessary. That being said, with Ronaldo leaving we no doubt need another forward and Gakpo is both reasonably priced and versatile which helps.
 

wolvored

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Maybe Sancho will be sold and they reckon Gakpo can play either side so useful coming off the wing. Think the summer will be a big spend again with new owners and a cf will be bought then.
 

Drizzle

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Bad vibes on this one. The guy is just not that good. It's possible that he fits us well and blossoms into a useful prem-level forward, but it seems more likely his average technique and pace will mean he's a squad player for us. And £45m is too much to pay for a squad player.
 

Boondog

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Seems he is the cheaper of the Rash replacements in the event he chooses PSG. There is a chance he could develop to be the striker we need but there are other options for that, so doubtful he is first choice there.
 

UnitedSofa

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Seems he is the cheaper of the Rash replacements in the event he chooses PSG. There is a chance he could develop to be the striker we need but there are other options for that, so doubtful he is first choice there.
Just no.
 

Shai-Hulud

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Feck this. He's not what we need. After showing what desperate fools we are with €100m for Antony we'll probably get suckered into paying like €60m+ for this guy.
 

sullydnl

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Some random fbref stats from this season (top) and last season (bottom).





Two things I'd note:

1) He's actually scoring more from less npxG this season, overperforming more in that regard than he did last season. So even though his ball striking might suggest he will be an above average finisher generally, regression seems very likely. It's a hot streak, basically.

2) More promisingly though, he was 99th percentile for npxG + npxA last season and has continued that this season. Which that means even if he stopped overperforming and was just returning at par with his underlying stats over the last season and a half, he'd still be very productive, offering nearly a goal or assist every game. For comparison, he has clocked up 0.92/0.93 per 90, where Antony's last two seasons in the same league were 0.61/0.56.

So whichever way you cut it, he's at least looking very productive in the Eredivisie. How much of that translates if he steps up to the PL is the question.
 
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prateik

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The one thing I dont understand is if we, or any club, did want him, then why wait till the Jan transfer window opens? I have never understood those reports or the logic behind it..
 

Plant0x84

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Realistic signing generally, but I really can't see the Glazers sanctioning United spending money. If they were happy for £40m+ to leave the club then they would have taken their dividends instead
If they are in sale (of the club) mode, dividends is money leaving the club, where as a player acquisition is investing into assets that can potentially generate a return. The two things aren’t the same.
 

Shai-Hulud

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The one thing I dont understand is if we, or any club, did want him, then why wait till the Jan transfer window opens? I have never understood those reports or the logic behind it..
Because for some insane reason, EtH actually believed he could rely on PR37. He recently even said that he had planned on renewing PR37 for another season beyond next summer...
 

Rightnr

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The one thing I dont understand is if we, or any club, did want him, then why wait till the Jan transfer window opens? I have never understood those reports or the logic behind it..
The answer is simple for us. We overspent on Antony and Martinez and are so cash-strapped, we couldn't afford to borrow more to buy him in the summer
 
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