PSV Eindhoven director of football Marcel Brands has admitted they had to be “realistic” when Chelsea and Liverpool came for their players in the January transfer window.
Gakpo joined Liverpool in a €42m deal at the beginning of January after a surprise deal to take him to Anfield was announced towards the end of December.
The move came after months of speculation regarding the forward, who had managed 13 goals and 17 assists for PSV this season after managing 21 goals and 15 assists in 47 games in all competitions this season.
He had been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League for well over a year, with Manchester United and Leeds both chasing him in the summer but failing to secure his signature.
It was Liverpool who eventually got the deal done, signing him as a replacement for Luis Diaz amid a set back in his injury recover.
Madueke, meanwhile, joined Chelsea in a €35m deal from PSV towards the end of the January transfer window as the Blues bought players from all around the world.
His departure was also something of a surprising one given the youngster had struggled with injuries this season, managing just nine appearances and 471 minutes of football in total since returning from an ankle injury in October.
Unlike Gakpo he had not been heavily linked with a move away and the switch to Chelsea was seen as a debatable one given the competition for places in Graham Potters’ squad.
Like Gakpo, he is one that PSV would have liked to keep hold of, but Brands admits alongside financial needs it was a case of being realistic.
“Of course it was a financial issue,” he told BNR program The Friday Move, relayed by Voetbal Primeur.
“But on the other hand, you also have to be realistic. If Liverpool come for Gakpo and promises have been made, you can’t stop that.
“Madueke was not planned and not expected, but it came a lot of money on the table, and it was Chelsea. That’s when we made that choice.”
