Two days before the clash with Leicester at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp received a New Year’s gift embodied in Cody Gakpo. The last season’s Eredivisie MVP will not be available to the Reds for tomorrow’s duel with the Foxes. He will be available from January 1, when he is expected to receive his work permit.It was the story of the latest signing that Liverpool stole from Manchester United right in front of their noses and paid 42,000,000 fixed – and potentially 50,000,000 with bonuses – that filled most of the press conference.”The money you spend affects the amount of money you’ll be able to spend in the future. That goes for everything. But we know what we want and we’ll see if we can make it work. Of course money is important, but there’s something even more important – the right players. We are overjoyed to have brought Cody. The essence is timing and bringing players at the right time. We believe in our work process. Footballers, especially offensive players always improve with us because of the way we work.” said Klopp.##NAJAVA_MECA_6911194##It is a logical journalistic assumption that the arrival of Gakpo complicates the situation with Roberto Firmino’s contract extension. The Brazilian has been at Anfield since 2015, from the coming summer he will be a free agent, and when everyone is healthy, Liverpool will have a considerable number of offensive players at their disposal – Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez…”The arrival of Gakpo does not disturb anything. We talked to Bobby. From my point of view I absolutely want him to stay. But if Bobby feels that the arrival of Gakpo threatens him, you will have to ask him”In his career so far, Gakpo has mostly played on the left wing, but he can meet the demands of several more offensive positions. And how does the German expert see the whole situation?”It’s natural for him to play on the left side, that’s obvious. But he can play in all four forward positions if the formation is 4-2-3-1. He’s still very young. He’s in great form, he showed it in the Dutch championship as well and at the World Cup. He probably prefers to play on the left in a 4-3-3 formation,” explained Klopp.Gakpo for Christmas! Dutch “family guy” speaks after walking into Liverpool’s training centre for the first timeTherefore, Gakpo presents more of a competition to Luis Diaz than to Firmino. And while injuries are bothering Firmino and Jota, Darwin Nunez cannot justify the huge amount of money that Liverpool splashed out for his transfer this summer. He gets into chances, but can’t seem to start finding the back of the net on a regular basis.”The real problem for a striker is when he doesn’t have an opportunity, that is, when he doesn’t get into goal chances,” Klopp commented.Due to an unrecognizable start to the season, Liverpool is currently the sixth-placed team in the Premier League and lags behind the leader Arsenal by a whopping 15 points. Title dreams are more than distant, and the primary goal is playing Champions League football next season.”We are in chase mode at the moment. We have to be uncomfortable for all the rivals. The clash with Villa was extremely intense. I liked the start, it was different compared to the matches we have played this season. I hope we can do it again. With the World Cup break behind us, we feel quite fresh and excited about the challenges that await us,” concluded Klopp.🚨Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool’s signing of forward Cody Gakpo will have “no impact” on Roberto Firmino’s future.Firmino is a free agent at the end of the season but Klopp is keen to ensure the 31-year-old stays put and pens an extension🔴#LFC pic.twitter.com/KjHJJvuuJ3— HighOnFootball⚽️ (@highonfutball) December 29, 2022
