KING POWER STADIUM — In the last six days alone, Cody Gakpo has been linked with Arsenal, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Liverpool.
He has, in the unique half-language of the transfer window, been “urged to turn down” one club, “dropped a major hint” about another and a third club has been “sent a warning” that constitutes, at first viewing, of absolutely nothing at all. Welcome to transfer culture.
At first glance, Gakpo feels like a cheat code of a footballer. He’s 22 but has been a regular in PSV’s senior side for three years and captains them in the absence of Marco van Ginkel.
He can play as a centre forward or as a winger, and tends to score goals when doing the former and create them when the latter. He is six foot two and slightly gangly but still elegant with the ball at feet – think Jude Bellingham – and lightning quick.
Gakpo is producing – 22 league goals and assists at a rate of better than one a game. He is PSV’s top goalscorer and top assist provider.
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There is always a vague tone of reservation when discussing young Eredivisie stars – Donyell Malen has scored five Bundesliga goals this season after his move from PSV to Dortmund – and Gakpo has also only played four times for the senior Netherlands team. But Louis van Gaal has publicly declared himself a huge fan.
The doubt, given the body frame and links to elite European leagues, is that Gakpo is a little lightweight physically. It is not a criticism without some merit. Against Leicester City on Thursday evening, Gakpo tended to drift in and out of the game. Part of that was probably by design, an attempt to be a latent threat that sparks into life to surprise an opponent. But there were several occasions when James Justin and Ricardo Pereira were able to rob him of the ball with little more than a gentle shove.
PSV were also often on the back foot. In the Eredivisie, PSV average 58 per cent possession and more than 18 shots per game. Here they managed a fraction over 40 per cent of the ball and forced Kasper Schmeichel into one save early on. Playing on the counter, PSV regularly launched the ball forward for Gakpo to run onto rather than to his feet.
Gakpo on Premier League links
“I try to stay focused on what I am doing now and finishing the season really well, then after that I can focus on something else.
“If I can make a step to a team who plays in the Champions League every season, of course it is my dream. But I still have a contract and there is a new coach coming in but maybe there comes a club I cannot say no to.
“Maybe they won’t come and I have to stay but for now I just want to keep working on this season.
“The Premier League is a big league. Virgil van Dijk plays there with Liverpool so I like to watch them.
“We are not the same kind of league but I think we try to look at the Prem and learn about it. Everybody wants to play one time in the Prem. I don’t favour one team but I like Arsenal a lot.
“I looked up to Henry when I was younger because he was a tall guy who played on the wing.”
And when PSV were able to knit together counter-attacks, particularly in the first half, it was Noni Madueke who flourished more than Gakpo. Madueke is a 20 year old from Barnet who rejected an offer from Manchester United to move to Eindhoven in 2018. He has four Under-21 caps but has never quite managed the freedom he enjoys in Roger Schmidt’s team. He has a style not dissimilar to Allan Saint-Maximin, slowing the ball down in order to quicken in an instant and fizz past an opponent.
Gakpo may feel happier next week in Eindhoven: familiar surroundings, more possession, more chance to run with the ball rather than run after it. He left the King Power pitch in a trudge, substituted late on to waste a few precious seconds and earn a draw. It rather summed up his night, used as filler rather than killer in a team that came for a point and got one.
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