Cody Gakpo took seven appearances to find his scoring boots at Liverpool with his last couple of performances proving the value the club’s recruitment team saw in his signing.
Speaking ahead of his new outfit’s upcoming Champions League clash with Real Madrid, the former PSV star revealed he’d already had conversations with Jurgen Klopp over where he might fit in positionally, as relayed online by James Pearce.
Gakpo: "I played the last few years on the left side but at the World Cup I played in the centre. When I came here the coach said it would be possible to play on the left or the centre so I just tried to adapt as well as possible."
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) February 20, 2023
The Dutchman has provided a handful of hints at how the manager will look to deploy him in future after interchanging brilliantly with Darwin Nunez in the central and left-sided positions in the forward line.
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An ability to play between both positions will certainly come in handy going forward if the 23-year-old’s latest outing is anything to go by.
Cody Gakpo plays a sideways pass before drifting in centrally
Gakpo times his run perfectly to slip behind the Newcastle backline after Mo Salah drops deep to receive and play the assist
Utilising the pace and stature on offer from both forwards has certainly made us look frightening on the counter-attack but this ability to create goalscoring opportunities centrally or out wide bodes well for the future.
Already against Everton and the Toon Army, our January signing has proved he’s capable of the undervalued close-range poacher’s finish plus starting and finishing moves after coming in from the left-flank.
Klopp is evidently quite happy to encourage positional flexibility insofar as it benefits his side on the pitch, much in a similar manner to how his last all-conquering front-three was told to operate.
With another confidence boost secured, there’s every reason to be excited about what he can accomplish for the remainder of the campaign.
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