For observers, Liverpool’s season can be divided into two distinct periods: before and after Jurgen Klopp’s surprising announcement that he would depart the club at the end of the campaign.
Since the landscape-shifting announcement, it has become almost instinctive to view everything through the lens of paying homage to a remarkable manager—a team driven to ensure his departure is marked by celebrations with champagne and surrounded by trophies.
While Liverpool’s squad is committed to giving Klopp the send-off his transformative tenure deserves—a success that began with the Carabao Cup—the reality is more ordinary and less scripted for the storyline.
Gakpo assessment of Liverpool’s season
In a lounge overlooking the pitches at the club’s expansive training facility, Cody Gakpo tells Sky Sports News the smell of trophies was in the air long before the manager’s announcement.
“When the season started we did well at the beginning, and we already felt this could be a special one,” the Netherlands international said.
He flagged one moment in particular. “Newcastle away, we got a red card and still managed to win the game,” he said. “In moments like that, you get the mentality building in the group that something special could happen.
“So we said to each other ‘don’t look ahead, keep focused, keep working really hard and do what we always do’.
“We knew it was going to get tough, we’re going to have some obstacles – we have them now with the injuries – but we always try to stick together and keep moving forward.
“It seems really special from the outside, I can imagine. From the inside, with the youngsters coming through, it is… but we’re really focused and not looking at it like that.”
Despite facing a double-digit injury list, Liverpool have already secured one trophy, with two more within reach. Additionally, they currently lead the league standings. Notably, eight of their academy graduates played pivotal roles in winning the Carabao Cup final and securing a spot in the FA Cup quarter-finals against Manchester United.
What is the secret? “One of Klopp’s specialities is giving us that belief we can do it, even though we’re having a tough time with injuries, without us having some really good players that are really important for the team,” Gakpo said.
“We have managed through the situation, that’s because of the young players who have come in, the manager, his staff and the fans – the togetherness, this total picture, it gets us through.”
How Gakpo almost joined Manchester United
It’s an intriguing moment to reflect on how things might have unfolded differently. The upcoming FA Cup showdown at Old Trafford will see Gakpo facing the club that could have been his potential employers.
In the summer of 2022, Manchester United emerged as the frontrunners among several Premier League clubs in discussions regarding a transfer with PSV Eindhoven for Gakpo.
Erik ten Hag, who was instrumental in the negotiations, was keen on bringing Gakpo to United, a preference echoed by Gakpo’s coach at the time, Ruud van Nistelrooy—a prolific goalscorer during his time under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The potential transfer was in motion until a week before the transfer window closed, but ultimately, funds were redirected elsewhere by Manchester United. Instead of pursuing Gakpo, United opted to invest £86 million in signing Antony from Ajax.
“It was the summer before. I was in contact with the club and the manager – he’s Dutch so I spoke to him as well,” Gakpo recalled.
“At the end of the day it fell through, that’s it, and in the winter Liverpool came. It was the best decision for me.”
Leeds and Southampton had tried to profit from United pulling out in the final days of the window without success. Sometimes things work out for the best?
“Yes they do,” Gakpo said with a cheeky smile, hinting at good times to come.
What does that look like, exactly, in his mental sketch? “The picture is we win all the trophies obviously, and after the last game, we throw the manager in the air. And all the trophies are there around him.
“And a parade! I saw some pictures and videos [after the 2019 Champions League final], it was amazing.”
