Player thought he was going to Man United ‘until last week’ – Worked ‘whole window towards it’

For a long while, Manchester United were said to be reportedly looking to sign Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven alongside Antony.

However, in the end, the Brazilian was the only forward to bolster Erik ten Hag’s squad at Old Trafford, with the Red Devils splurging £82m to secure his services.

It all then became rather quiet for Gakpo, as Manchester United seemingly distanced themselves for a deal, focusing instead on signing Martin Dubravka on loan from Newcastle United.

This left the Dutch forward in a bit of an awkward position, who then became a target for other clubs on deadline day, like Leeds United and Southampton.

In the end, he stayed put, but in an interview with PSV’s official channel on YouTube, he explained the entire situation, including what happened with Manchester United.

He said, relayed by SoccerNews: “Manchester United had reported at the beginning of the transfer window. We were waiting for that a bit. The signals became more and more positive and at a certain point I thought it might fall in that direction.”

“That option faded a bit and completely last week. We worked the whole window towards it. Until last week, I thought I would go to Manchester United. In the last week I looked at all options. In the end PSV came up with a good offer and that turned out to be the right choice for me.”

A blow for Gakpo then, who had been waiting for the move to Old Trafford for most of the summer, only to see Antony get the big move he had clearly been dreaming about.

There could still be movement down the line, but the forward is now focused on PSV and the upcoming World Cup, which could open more doors for him if he were to perform to the best of his ability during the tournament.