Cody Gakpo Remains A Leading Target For Manchester United

Manchester United remain interested in signing the Dutch international winger Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven in the next twelve months.

The Old Trafford club tracked the 23-year-old player throughout last summer before ultimately deciding to shelve their interest until a future transfer window.

United spoke to Gakpo, and got as close as agreeing personal terms towards the end of the transfer window but never made a formal bid to PSV Eindhoven.

Earlier this month PSV’s Chief executive officer Marcel Brands admitted, “Cody had a difficult preparation with us because he has spoken with Manchester United. They didn’t come until mid-August and it didn’t go through.”

There was a fleeting belief within United that they could sign both Gakpo and Antony during the summer window before the price for the Brazilian kept rising.

When United thought they could sign Antony for £50 million there would still have been funds left to sign Gakpo for a fee of around £25 million.

However, when Ajax’s asking price for Antony rose to £85 million United accepted they would be unable to complete both deals.

At the start of September United endured an uncomfortable transfer deadline day as both Leeds United and Southampton made bids for Gakpo, but the player opted to remain in The Netherlands, aware that United were likely to come back for him.

Since then the winger has been in scintillating form for PSV, scoring 10 goals in 13 games in all competitions, including 8 goals in 7 games in the Eredivisie.

“We have not seen Cody changing his behaviour up to now,” the PSV manager and former United player Ruud van Nistelrooy has said. “I admire that a lot in him, he’s working on his development on a daily basis, playing in games and reaching his levels. He’s not distracted…For a young guy like him, it’s special to see that attitude.”

During the current international break Gakpo has also been starring for The Netherlands, scoring in a 2-0 win over Poland last week, and then providing the assist for Virgil van Dijk to score in a 1-0 win against Belgium on Sunday.

Gakpo’s early season form has vindicated Erik ten Hag’s pursuit of the player and made it more likely United will seek to conclude a deal in the near future.

The impressive early season form of Ten Hag’s other signings from The Netherlands, Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martinez and Antony, has also made United more willing to back him if he wanted to buy from that market again.

It is highly likely Cristiano Ronaldo will leave in the next year, which would provide the need for a new attacking player and free up considerable space on the club’s wage bill.

This would make a new approach for Gakpo more viable, and it is worth noting that the player and Ten Hag both belong to the same Dutch-based talent agency SEG, which should make any future negotiations smoother than usual.

United do not believe they would experience as much resistance from PSV as they faced with Ajax during the deal to sign Antony.

Gakpo has an understanding with PSV that he can leave if they receive an offer at a certain level, which was revealed by Brands in a recent interview.

“We did state that if there were certain offers, we would have to sell,” the PSV CEO said. “This is not only from a financial point of view, but also because agreements were made with the Gakpo camp before my time.”