Revealed: Why Chelsea didn’t sign Cody Gakpo

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 23 May 2023 09:09 CDT
• 3 min read

Chelsea never opened official negotiations to sign Cody Gakpo in January.

That is according to Fabrizio Romano, who reports that Chelsea never made an official move for the Dutchman as they had prioritised Mykhaylo Mudryk.

Gakpo completed a €57 million move to Liverpool from PSV during the January transfer, signing a contract until 2028 at Anfield.

PROFILE: Who is Cody Gakpo?

This move comes about after Man Utd had been expected to wrap up a deal for Gakpo in January, having been close to signing the World Cup star in the summer.

However, Chelsea were also heavily linked with making a late move of their own for Gakpo.

Why Chelsea didn’t sign Gakpo

“Chelsea were just informed on Cody Gakpo deal conditions as they were for Marcus Thuram and many others,” Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column.

“But the top priority in that position was always Mykhaylo Mudryk; Chelsea didn’t even open talks with PSV.

“Gakpo was happy about Liverpool’s plans and how convinced they were about him.”

Gakpo had 13 goals and 17 assists for PSV in all competitions, prior to joining Liverpool.

He also impressed massively at the 2022 World Cup where he scored three goals and was his team’s key player as they reached the quarter finals where they lost on penalties to eventual winners Argentina.

But Chelsea opted in paying €100m for Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk instead.

Gakpo had a slow start at Liverpool, failing to score or assist in his first six games.

However, he broke his duck in the Merseyside Derby on Monday evening as he scored in a 2-0 win over Everton.