Jamie Carragher has admitted he is “baffled” as to why Liverpool signed Cody Gakpo and questioned what Jurgen Klopp saw in him to sanction a £45million deal.
Gakpo joined the Reds from PSV Eindhoven at the beginning of January after an excellent showing for Netherlands at the Qatar World Cup. The 23-year-old scored three times at the tournament to add to his already impressive 13 goals in 24 matches this season at club level.
The deal was seen as a real coup at the time amid reported interest from Manchester United, though Gakpo has since failed to score in any of his six Liverpool appearances and has largely appeared to struggle at adapting to his new club. It is early days for the young forward and Liverpool have hardly been in form, but Carragher is unsure what possessed Klopp to add him to his squad.
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The pundit pointed at the club’s failure to land a midfielder in summer or in January – a position which Liverpool are desperate for reinforcements in. Carragher also noted how Liverpool have only just spent a club record £85m in the summer to sign Darwin Nunez and also forked out £50m to land Luis Diaz last January.
He wrote in his column for The Telegraph: “In attack, Diaz started his Liverpool career brilliantly but Nunez is a work in progress, and I am baffled watching Gakpo’s early performances. Gakpo is not a typical Klopp signing, lacking lightning pace and the capacity to lead a high press.
“Why commit up to £45 million on someone who will be on the bench when Diaz and Diogo Jota are fit? Especially when another area of the team needed strengthening?”
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Gakpo has admitted he has come in to a “difficult situation” at Liverpool, with the club on a dismal run having won just one of their seven matches in all competitions since the start of the year. Klopp insisted he was “completely happy” with the Dutchman at the end of last month and praised the attributes that Gakpo will offer Liverpool once he gets settled.
“He is good on the ball, you can see in his finishing he is a sensational finisher,” the Liverpool boss said. “His shooting from distance [is] outstanding, but in the games he is a bit in a rush and now in the moment not in the right position. It is an extreme strength of his and he has a long-term contract here and everybody will see that.”
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