KEY POINTS

  • Cody Gakpo netted 13 goals and 17 assists for PSV this season
  • He moved to Liverpool on a six-year contract
  • Gakpo started off his soccer career in 2007 with PSV's youth teams

Jurgen Klopp has heaped praise on Liverpool FC's new signing Cody Gakpo, calling the young forward a "versatile" and "smart" soccer player.

Liverpool signed Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven ahead of the January transfer window in a deal worth around $42-$53 million, which was a record transfer for the Eredivisie club.

The 23-year-old forward, who is tied with the Anfield side until the summer of 2028, started the season on a high for PSV, scoring 13 goals and providing 17 assists in 24 appearances before the international break. He carried the same form for the Netherlands in the World Cup, scoring a goal in their three group games.

After unveiling Gakpo as a new Reds player, Klopp said "there is a lot to like about Cody." Even though he is just 23 years old, he "already has a lot of experience," the Liverpool boss added.

While Klopp is sure that Gakpo can immediately impact his new club, the German manager believes there is much more to come from Liverpool's new No.18.

"He was the captain of PSV, he was the Player of the Year in Holland last season and, as a lot of people have just seen, he also had a great World Cup with his national team. So, it is clear that he is already a really, really good player but his age also means he also has the potential to become even better. Offensively, he is very versatile and on top of this we know he is a smart footballer and also a smart person, so we are really excited to be able to work with him," Klopp told Liverpool's website.

Cody Gakpo
Cody Gakpo has joined Liverpool from PSV ahead of January window Prestige/Soccrates/Getty Images

Gakpo, who started his soccer career with PSV's youth side in 2007, said he is "looking forward to start training and playing" for Liverpool.

"I think this is a great club for me to come in and try to show what I can [do] and try to help the team to achieve more beautiful moments than they already did in the past years. I think for me personally it's also good to develop here and there's a lot of great players here [who] I can learn a lot of things from," said Gakpo in an interview.

Liverpool resumed the 2022-23 Premier League campaign with a superb 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday. The Reds have 25 points from 15 games and are placed sixth in the league table. They are five points behind the top four and 15 points behind leaders Arsenal.

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