Well, it looks like Cody Gakpo will be heading to Liverpool and not Manchester United after months of speculation.
PSV Eindhoven have announced an agreement with Liverpool, with Gakpo set to travel for a medical to complete the move.
The Dutchman had appeared like Manchester United’s most likely January signing. Just hours before, Fabrizio Romano was reporting the Red Devils had the fate of the player in their hands.
However, he looks Liverpool-bound now, which may seem like a bolt from the blue, but it has been a possibility ever since ESPN reported how assistant coach Pep Ljinders was a huge fan, back in November.
Missing out on Gakpo is fine
Missing out on Cody Gakpo is a little bit of a surprise as everything had been pointing towards him heading to United.
The Mirror reported how United had opened talks with PSV and were keen to get a deal done.
No doubt this will be disputed as United attempt to get their version across. Was it all speculation and paper talk?
If the club really wanted him, surely they would have done the deal back in the summer instead of hesitating.
There was one nagging doubt about Gakpo; he is not the number nine Manchester United need. Sure, he can become this, and can be moulded into a centre-forward, but he is not that player right now.
United need a centre-forward, a ruthless goalscorer, not yet another forward who prefers to play out wide, and on the left too, just like Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Alejandro Garnacho.
If United really went for Gakpo and missed out, then that’s disappointing – but it’s more likely the Red Devils simply stepped aside, because there are different plans in play.
Gakpo may simply have been a smokescreen for the striker United are pushing to sign. While some will get impatient and overreact, let’s judge at the end of January – and see who we sign instead, assuming somebody is brought in.
Missing out to Liverpool is not fine
Most Manchester United fans will end up shrugging their shoulders at missing out on Gakpo. We have missed out on far better players through the years, from Karim Benzema to Wesley Sneijder to Erling Haaland. This isn’t even close.
What really will rankle, however, is missing out to Liverpool, who have just become a more dangerous team.
Whether United wanted him or not, perception matters, and Liverpool fans are convinced Manchester United wanted him, whatever the line is coming out of Old Trafford.
So they will end up gloating over this deal, and the media will bring it up at every opportunity too, claiming Liverpool beat United to the deal, even if there’s no evidence the Red Devils made a bid.
No Manchester United fans want to see Liverpool strengthen, and this could end up being a move which costs the club at the end of the season.
The race for a top four spot is going to be very tight, and this could help Liverpool in at United’s expense. That would put a new perspective on the deal.
Matches between Liverpool and United will have extra focus on Gakpo too. It’s just an annoyance more than anything, and United fans would be in total agreement that it would have been preferable for the Netherlands forward to sign anywhere else.
It’s up to United to respond now. Is there money available at present? That’s unclear. But manager Erik ten Hag has made totally clear that he needs a striker.
Missing out on Gakpo is acceptable if United go and sign a more suitable centre-forward. The stakes have just been raised, with Liverpool getting stronger.
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