Cody Gakpo: Man Utd and Arsenal target is more devastating than Haaland

Neel Shelat

• Updated: 21 Oct 2022 13:58 BST
• 11 min read

Guess which player from Europe’s top seven leagues has the most goal involvements in all club competitions this season. Most would say Erling Haaland, and this is quite a sensible pick given the fact that he has fit Manchester City’s system like a glove and hit the ground running at the Etihad Stadium. He already has 23 goal involvements even at this early stage of the season. It is an incredible figure.

The correct answer, though, is Cody Gakpo, who has 13 goals and 12 assists for PSV in 16 matches. Those are some astronomical stats, which are already greater than anything the Dutchman has previously managed in any of his four full top-flight league seasons. The likes of Manchester United and Arsenal were interested in him before this explosion, and it is little wonder they are now so hotly linked.

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All-round attacker

Positionally speaking, Gakpo is a winger who is at his best on the left flank. In Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 4-2-3-1 system at PSV this season, he has worked his magic both out wide and in the halfspace, as his touchmap shows.

The 23-year-old Netherlands international’s exceptional start to the season has seen him excel in almost all aspects of attacking play. As his pizza chart depicts, he has great underlying numbers to go with his lofty goals and assists tally, is heavily involved in his team’s possession play, is a high-volume dribbler and works hard out of possession too.

Gakpo’s touchmap makes it clear that he is typically involved quite high up the pitch, but he does have an impact on the game from deeper areas too. The Dutchman primarily does so through his progressive ball-carrying, which is deceptively slick for such a tall player, aided by his superb control on both feet.

His progressive passing also helps his side get forward at times, but more regularly helps them break into the final third or penalty area.

Of course, Gakpo’s bread and butter is at the sharp end of the pitch, and this is where he really excels.

Dynamic attacking threat and end-product

One of the ways that Gakpo has really elevated his game this season is by significantly ramping up his end product. He quite clearly had great potential in the past too, but his final actions and decision-making let him down. That is not the case anymore.

Once Gakpo has the ball around the edge of the box on the left side of the pitch, it’s game over for the opposition. That is because the Dutchman has the tools to hurt them in every way possible.

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The most obvious way a left-footed right winger can deal damage from the edge of the box is by cutting inside and shooting. Gakpo’s dribbling ability and quick acceleration help him in creating such openings, but what really separates him from most other attackers is his incredible ball-striking ability. Just look at how much power he generates on this effort below even while running away from goal.

Indeed, such efforts from the edge of the box are a regular theme in Gakpo’s shooting patterns. His shotmap attests to that, and the fact that he has a tally of 7.4 xGOT in the league from shots worth 5.3 xG shows just how good his shot quality and finishing are.

Gakpo’s intelligent movement and speed also enable him to go through on goal often, where he is a very good one-on-one finisher on both feet. Here are a couple of clips to showcase that:

Beyond cutting inside and shooting, an additional facet of Gakpo’s threat is playing quick one-twos with team-mates in tight areas to create chances, as he does here:

The Dutch international has more assists than goals in the league this season, so he is not half bad at creating chances for his team-mates. Again, he is most threatening when on the left edge of the box, from where he can either slip in an overlapping full-back, or stick up a cross to the far post himself.

Such a pattern of chance creation is evident in his key passes map, which also highlights his set-piece threat from corners.

Future forecast

In case it was not obvious already, here is a visualisation to show how Gakpo is a class above almost all other Eredivisie wingers:

Unsurprisingly, then, he is being touted with a move to pastures new in the upcoming January transfer window. Europe’s best sides including Manchester United and Arsenal are said to be interested in his services, but the question is what the best destination would be for him.

Gakpo is already excelling in the Europa League and on the international stage with the Dutch national team, so there should not be any concerns about his suitability to an elite side in terms of quality. The main question for him then becomes finding a side where he will get regular minutes in a system that suits his strengths. Ideally, such a system would allow him to play out wide on the left, while also using overlapping full-backs to drag defenders away from him in low blocks.

Such systems are becoming rarer among the elite sides, who are now preferring to use their full-backs in more conservative roles. Nevertheless, the Dutchman would fit well into the left-wing spot at Arsenal, where they are rather lacking depth as Gabriel Martinelli is their only clear first-choice option.

In this hectic season due to the winter World Cup, it would certainly be beneficial for the Gunners to have two top-class left wingers who can share game time between them, so this would be a sensible move for all parties involved.

Gakpo would also do well under Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, but they already have Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford playing on the left of their attack, so signing him would not necessarily be a great piece of business for them unless the England international was more regularly moved into a central role.

Regardless of where he ends up, there is a high likelihood that Gakpo will be one of the best attackers in Europe in the near future, so practice pronouncing the soft ‘G’ while you still have time.