Cody Gakpo will set Liverpool back £82m in fees and wages, according to reports, after they agreed a six-year contract with the PSV Eindhoven forward.
The Netherlands attacker starred at the World Cup, scoring three goals in Qatar, and is now on his way to England to finalise a switch to Merseyside.
“PSV and Liverpool have reached an agreement on the proposed transfer of Cody Gakpo,” an official club statement read.
“The 23-year-old attacker will leave for England imminently where he will be subjected to the necessary formalities ahead of the completion of the transfer.”
PSV Eindhoven general manager Marcel Brands confirmed Gakpo’s anticipated transfer would be a “record” for the Eredivisie club.
Hirving Lozano’s move to Napoli in 2019 for a reported 42 million euros was the previous highest sale by the Dutch outfit.
A club statement added: “Both clubs are not making any announcements about the transfer fee.”
“But this is a record transfer for PSV,” said general manager Brands.
But Football Insider claim that the deal will be ‘worth £82million in transfer fee and wages’ after the transfer ‘progressed swiftly in recent days and a package has been agreed worth an initial £37million, rising to a potential £44m with add-ons’.
Liverpool will also pay £120,000 a week to Gakpo over his six-year contract and the arrival of the Dutchman now gives Jurgen Klopp another option across the front three, although it is expected he will be used primarily on the left.
It had been widely reported and assumed that Liverpool’s arch-rivals Manchester United were leading the race to sign Gakpo with a report earlier on Monday claiming that the Red Devils ‘fully expect’ to sign Gakpo.
And former Liverpool defender Glen Johnson had previously urged the Reds to hijack United’s move for the Netherlands star.
“£50 million is cheap nowadays, so if you can get a young, quality player for that price, then you’ve got to do what you can to hijack it,” Johnson said.
“I’d encourage them to hijack the move purely for how good the player is rather than the fact he could be going to Manchester United.”
Gakpo admitted recently that the summer speculation about his was “tough” to deal with.
“That was a tough period,” Gakpo told Dutch newspaper NRC. “I learned from that. I’m going to do it differently. What comes, that comes.
“Suppose you want to go from RKC (Waalwijk) to PSV, but that club is not coming. Then you can panic.
“I thought about Manchester United, but when that didn’t happen, I couldn’t remember. And I started to doubt. Leeds United did come. Should I go there?
“Now I wait (for) everything. I haven’t heard from Manchester United yet. When they come, I’ll think about it. I also seek the help of God in these decisions.”
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