- Cody Gakpo revealed why he turned down moves to Leeds and Southampton
- Gakpo opted to stay at PSV before signing for Liverpool in January 2023
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Liverpool star Cody Gakpo has opened up about the bizarre way he decided against joining Leeds and Southampton in the summer of 2022.
Gakpo, who was then playing for PSV, had been heavily linked with a move to English football, with Leeds and Southampton among the clubs interested in him.
The Dutchman said he found it difficult to make a decision about his future.
When Gakpo prepared to play for PSV against Volendam on August 31, 2022, he did not yet know where he would play when the transfer window closed.
Ultimately, however, he came up with a rather unusual method of choosing what he wanted to do.
Cody Gakpo has revealed the bizarre reason he didn’t sign for Leeds or Southampton
Gakpo decided that if he scored once against Volendam he would sign for Southampton, if he scored twice he would go to Leeds and if he scored a hat-trick he would stay with Volendam.
PSV ran out a 7-1 winner and as fate would have it, Gakpo eventually scored a hat-trick.
There was some uncertainty surrounding the third goal, which took a big deflection but was ultimately awarded to Gakpo, who subsequently opted to stay with PSV.
As reported by ESPN, Gakpo said in his documentary: ‘You have to make a difficult decision, and then you pray to talk to God and ask for wisdom. I’ve got it.’
‘People may think I’m strange. I could go to Southampton, Leeds came into the race and PSV wanted me to stay. I presented the three options I had to God. If I scored once, I would go to Southampton. If I scored twice, I went to Leeds and if I scored three, I stayed at PSV.’
Victor Orta, Leeds’ director of football at the time, had flown in on a private jet to watch the match but ultimately became frustrated at being unable to sign Gakpo.
Gakpo opted to stay at PSV after scoring a hat-trick in the 7-1 win against Volendam
Jordan Teze (R) told Gakpo that it was in God’s hands to decide whether the third goal would be his
Gakpo said his then-teammate Jordan Teze says it was in God’s hands to decide his future amid the uncertainty over the third goal.
Gakpo said, “I was sitting next to one of my good friends [on the bench] Jordan Teze. He said: ‘It’s in God’s hands whether he decides it’s an own goal or not.’ Ultimately it was [given as] my goal, so then there were three. I couldn’t have gotten a clearer signal.’
PSV director Toon Gerbrands revealed that Gakpo, a Pentecostal Christian, attaches great importance to his faith.
Gerbrands said: ‘He tries to place faith in the context of life, I talked to him about that and learned from it. I think this is how he sought help with the question: Where should I go? That’s typical Cody.’
Gakpo stayed at PSV until January 2023, when he signed for Liverpool.
Since joining the Reds, Gakpo has made 79 appearances and scored 23 goals.