LIVERPOOL GOT TIMING OF GAKPO DEAL RIGHT – KLOPP

Manager Juergen Klopp praised new signing Cody Gakpo’s potential, saying the Premier League club had timed its signing of the highly sought-after Dutch forward perfectly.

Gakpo, who scored three goals for the Netherlands at the World Cup, joined Liverpool on Wednesday from PSV Eindhoven for a reported cost of £37 million ($44.57 million).

Manchester United was also said to be interested in the 23-year-old before Liverpool closed the deal.

“He’s a pretty excellent player, so the package is interesting,” Klopp said ahead of the game against Leicester City on Friday. “He’s big for him. This is significant for us. Wonderful day…

“He’s a young player with a lot of promise. He would have been unaffordable if he had scored 40 goals at a different position, perhaps in Spain rather than Holland. It’s all about timing and getting people in at the correct time when they haven’t scored 55 goals in a season.

“We were trailing him, and he was continuously taking the next step. We believe in our method; when offensive players come here, they all advance because of the way we operate and can assist them.”

Gakpo stated following his move to Anfield that he was encouraged to join after conversing with Netherlands and Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk.

“The negotiations were a home run,” Klopp stated. “We didn’t need Virgil to persuade him, but he enjoys being involved in these things!”

Klopp stated that there were no new injuries in his team, but that the injured combination of James Milner and Roberto Firmino, who missed this week’s win over Aston Villa, will not be ready to face Leicester.

He also stated that France defender Ibrahima Konate, who appeared in France’s World Cup final loss to Argentina, has returned to training and is available for selection.

Liverpool, which is sixth in the league with 25 points from 15 games, will play a Leicester squad that was beaten 3-0 by Newcastle on Monday, and Klopp expects a response from Brendan Rodgers’ side.

“They could tweak their system, making it more difficult,” Klopp speculated. “But we have to push through what we want to do since we haven’t played at home in a long time.”