Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo has revealed how a hat-trick stopped him signing for Leeds United or Southampton the year before he ended up at Anfield.
The Dutchman has been speaking to ViaPlay in a recent documentary about himself, with his quotes relayed by Voetbal Zone.
The 25-year-old joined Liverpool in a €42m deal back in January last year after several years impressing at PSV Eindhoven, where he had been the undisputed star of the show after breaking through from the youth ranks.
He had regularly been linked with a move to England before that, with the previous summer seeing him come increasingly close to a move.
Leeds made a concerted effort to get him that same summer, with director of football Victor Orta even flying to Eindhoven to try and convince the forward and PSV into a deal late in the window.
That deal ultimately never happened on deadline day and Gakpo elected to stay at PSV, before eventually joining Liverpool in the January transfer window. He’s now revealed that decision to turn down the switch to Elland Road all hinged on a bet with God.
“You have a difficult decision to make, and then you go to prayer to talk to God and ask for wisdom. I got that,” he said.
“People might think I’m weird. I could go to Southampton; Leeds came into the race and PSV wanted me to stay.
“I presented the three options I had to God. If I scored once, I would go to Southampton. If I scored twice, I would go to Leeds and if I scored three, I would stay at PSV.”
