Dutch legend admits 'love' for Man Utd target Gakpo

Cameron Smith

• 29 Nov 2022 12:19 GMT
• 3 min read

Dutch football legend Ronald de Boer has expressed his "love" for PSV Eindhoven and Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo. The 23-year-old forward netted in his country's opening two games of the 2022 Qatar World Cup to continue his incredible form at the start of this campaign.

Gakpo has scored 13 goals and assisted a further 17 in just 24 appearances in all competitions for PSV this term, and as a result has been heavily linked with a January exit from the Eredivisie giants.

Manchester United and Liverpool are among the teams reportedly interested in the forward, with Erik ten Hag's side closely pursuing him during the most recent summer transfer window before deciding against signing him.

READ: Cody Gakpo drops Man Utd January transfer hint

However, the Red Devils are now back in for him, with reports suggesting they are preparing a January bid in an effort to tempt PSV into selling Gakpo mid-season.

Despite playing primarily as a left-winger at club level, Gakpo was used in the No.10 position in Netherlands' World Cup opener against Senegal before being shifted into a central striker role against Ecuador, showing his versatility.

And, De Boer has revealed his love for the player to Sky Sports.

READ: PSV want to sell Man Utd transfer target Gakpo to Liverpool

What has been said?

Speaking to Sky Sports, De Boer said: "Before the season, they could have sold Gakpo to an English club, Leeds United, for a lot of money, but PSV said ‘no, we’ll wait, we’re going to play Champions League’ then they got kicked out by Rangers.

"And they thought ‘oh, there goes the money’, bad management basically they said because now they lose a lot of money.

"They kicked out the technical director [Nigel de Jong] because of that, not totally.

"Now he must be sitting on his couch thinking 'Gakpo is worth £80m, probably, so why am I sitting at home?'

"Talking about Gakpo himself, he’s a great youngster. He has speed, dribble but most importantly has a great shot, he’s directly to the goal and he finds the net quite easy.

"What’s less important is that he’s a great person, you can see on the camera, really down to earth and I love him as a football player and as a person."

With Man Utd terminating Cristiano Ronaldo's contract at the club following his controversial interview with Piers Morgan, Ten Hag's side are in need of another attacker in January and it's believed that Gakpo is the player they see as the perfect replacement.