**Cody Gakpo has confirmed how close he came to joining Manchester City this summer before Liverpool told him could not leave.**
City pursued the Netherlands international in the final days of the summer window, with an £80m move ultimately collapsing after Liverpool changed their stance on allowing him to leave.
When Liverpool were unable to sign either Yankuba Minteh or Ismaila Sarr, they reversed their stance on allowing Gakpo to leave.
Speaking while on international duty with the Netherlands, Gakpo was asked whether Liverpool had initially been willing to let him leave before changing their mind.
His response was: _“Spot on._
_“It was a difficult summer for me, and my family, and everything surrounding football and life. I just let it come, and it ended how it ended. I cannot choose. So then I have to just try to do what I’m good at, and that’s playing football. I can be very worried about everything that could happen, or that didn’t happen, or whatever, but that wouldn’t help the situation._
_“It’s a very long story. The summer was very tough regarding everything. So I just let everything be and see how it came and it worked out in this way.”_
Gakpo may now be grateful that his move to City collapsed given that there is a lot of upheaval on City’s horizon due to their charges.
Liverpool, however, have benefitted massively from keeping Gakpo in the early exchanges in the season, with the Dutch forward scoring two goals and assisting four.
The 27-year-old was one of the most heavily criticised Liverpool players last season, but all his critics have vanished since the start of the season.
Football can be very fickle in this way, but I think it’s safe to say he didn’t deserve the hate he received online last season. Also, that online hate didn’t come from anyone who can boldly declare themselves true Liverpool fans.
The season ahead of us is going to be a long and draining one. It will require Andoni Iraola to rely heavily on Gakpo as one of his most experienced players in a very young squad.
Hopefully, the former PSV star can continue to find strong attacking form in Red, and that it will lead to success at Anfield.