PSV Eindhoven boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has blasted his former player Cody Gakpo for ignoring his advice to wait for Manchester United and instead going to Liverpool.
United were firmly interested in Gakpo and the forward was Erik ten Hag’s number one target in January for the attacking department.
United’s shortage of enough cash after a heavy summer spend and amidst the takeover process meant that a deal for Gakpo could not get over the line.
Ten Hag instead turned to a stop-gap solution in Wout Weghorst.
With United dithering, Liverpool swooped in and hijacked United’s transfer plan for Gakpo. However, the transfer has not gone well for either Gakpo or the Merseyside club so far.
Gakpo has struggled to make any meaningful impact at Anfield. He is yet to score a goal or even register an assist and there is already a clamour from the Liverpool fanbase to drop the player from the starting XI.
Former United goalscorer Van Nistelrooy was this week asked about Gakpo’s struggles at Liverpool and he took a swipe at the switch.
The United legend said, “Gakpo’s dream move was Manchester United, he was in contact with Ten Hag since last August. I also wanted him to join United – not just because it’s my club and I love them, but also because they are better than Liverpool and offer a lot more potential to their players.
“But United did not make a bid in January, so I advised him to wait ’til the summer.
“Something happened and he refused my advice and listened to Virgil [Van Dijk] who tempted him to join his team. He told me he wanted to move abroad in January.”
The PSV boss went on ahead to take a cheeky dig at Liverpool, saying they are 10 times smaller than the Red Devils “in every department.”
Van Nistelrooy reiterated his love for the 20-time English champions and said that he felt lucky to have played for the two biggest clubs in the world – United and Real Madrid.
As per Van Nistelrooy, if Gakpo had opted for United, he would already be scoring goals in plenty as he would be reliant on the services of Christian Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes and even Casemiro.
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