Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk helped convince his national team-mate Cody Gakpo to join the Premier League side, according to reports.
The Merseyside club hijacked Manchester United’s move for Gakpo on Boxing Day after reaching an agreement with the Dutch club to sign the rising talent for £44million.
And now there are claims that Holland international van Dijk spoke to the PSV star and helped engineer a move to Anfield despite interest from their league rivals.
According to Eindhovens Dagblad, van Dijk made contact with Gakpo and convinced the winger to join the club amid rising interest in the 23-year-old’s services.
The outlet claim that the conversation between the Holland stars was partly a reason for Gakpo choosing to join Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Plenty of Europe’s top sides had been linked with the talent following his impressive performances for his national side during the recent World Cup.
United had instigated talks with the Dutch club, but there were still yet to finalise a financial offer and have now missed out on a major target ahead of January.
Van Dijk had hinted at the idea that Liverpool needed fresh faces during his post-match interview against Aston Villa.
Speaking after the 3-1 victory, van Dijk said: ‘Hopefully the injured players can come back soon, and hopefully we can welcome some new players at our football club.
‘We will see. I think that quality is always welcome at Liverpool.’
The defender marked his return to Premier League action with a goal during the victory and played the full 90 minutes as Liverpool cruised to a win at Villa Park.
United had been considered favourites to sign Gakpo, but the ongoing talk over their sale has cast doubt over what funds are readily available this month.
Van Dijk’s showed his appraisal for the forward after he spoke glowingly about his team-mate Gakpo during the 2022 World Cup.
‘Hopefully Cody can go to the moon and back,’ said Van Dijk during the tournament in Qatar. ‘He is a very good player and a good boy too.
‘What we see in training is what you see on the pitch. There is still so much potential and I hope he can carry on showing it for us. We are very happy with him.’
