Cody Gakpo has revealed that his move to Liverpool two years ago was predicted by a pastor.
The Reds secured a £35million deal to sign Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven after his barnstorming 2022 World Cup performance with the Netherlands. And after a hot-and-cold first 18 months, the 25-year-old is now on course for his best season in English football, with 14 goals in 32 games across all competitions.
Leeds United and Southampton were among Gakpo’s English suitors after his impressive 2021/22 campaign with PSV. Manchester United were also in the equation before their ill-fated move for Antony.
That brush with Old Trafford initially left Gakpo bewildered. But sitting tight for an extra six months saw his stock skyrocket, and now he thanks God that things turned out the way they did.
“Everybody who knows me, knows I am a man guided by my faith,” he wrote for The Players’ Tribune. “So, one day [in the summer of 2022], I had a meeting with the pastor from my church back in Holland, and he brought a friend who was a pastor somewhere else.
“This other pastor said, ‘Can I tell you something?’, I said of course. This was before any big clubs had come knocking on my door. And he said that God told him that I would go to Liverpool. I kind of laughed it off like, Yeah, nice, we will see about that.
“There was already a little bit of interest from Manchester United, so I thought, we’ll see. Then in the summer of 2022, United went for Antony. I was like, what should I do?”
Gakpo elected to let his feet decide. If he scored one goal in his next game he would join Southampton, a brace would have seen him commit to Leeds, and a hat-trick would mean staying at PSV.
The versatile forward scored twice and was awarded a dubious third, which initially went down as an own goal. He therefore stayed in the Netherlands, fought his way into the World Cup squad and had a brilliant tournament in Qatar.
“It’s a funny story,” Gakpo explained. “But in a way, that’s a really important piece of the puzzle. Thank God I stayed because that allowed me to play in the World Cup, which led to Liverpool.”
