Marcel Brands has said that PSV Eindhoven were powerless to prevent the sale of Cody Gakpo to Liverpool in late December.
In the final week of 2022, the Reds announced the signature of the Netherlands forward for an initial £35m (Liverpool ECHO).
The Eredivisie club’s director of football, who formerly held a similar role at Everton, admitted there was little they could do to stop the 23-year-old from coming to Anfield mid-season.
Brands told BNR’s The Friday Move podcast (via Liverpool ECHO): “Of course, it was a financial issue. But on the other hand, you also have to be realistic. If Liverpool come for Gakpo and promises have been made, you can’t stop that.”
The player himself has gone on record to express his excitement upon hearing of the Reds’ interest in him upon returning from the World Cup shortly before Christmas (as per Liverpool ECHO), and PSV must’ve realised they wouldn’t be able to stand in his way of a move to the Premier League.
Considering how impressively Gakpo performed in Qatar, scoring three goals in his country’s run to the quarter-finals, FSG did well to get him for a far from earth-shattering £35m, a fee for which the Eindhoven club were probably grateful given their apparent fiscal issues.
The 23-year-old has shown some promising early signs at Anfield, recently enjoying a run of five top-flight games during which he plundered four goals, two of which came in the 7-0 mauling of Manchester United (Transfermarkt).
The delicious irony is that, at one point last year, it looked as if Gakpo’s appearance in that fixture would’ve seen him line up for the visitors, having seemingly been close to joining the Red Devils before Liverpool ultimately swooped (Manchester Evening News).
Brands’ comments indicate that the Reds’ hierarchy recognised the circumstances regarding the forward’s situation at PSV and, to their credit, duly took full advantage.