Arsenal target admits coming ‘close’ to Man United move this summer

Arsenal were strongly linked with a move for PSV forward Cody Gakpo, but the Dutch youngster has admitted that he was in fact close to joining rivals Manchester United.

The Gunners ended the transfer window without replacing Nicolas Pepe, who left to join Nice on a season-long loan deal in the final week of August, but their failure to make any late signing hasn’t stopped them from hitting top form in the league.

We currently sit pretty on top of the English division, whilst our win over Gakpo’s PSV side on Thursday also means that they have qualified to the next round of that competition with two fixtures still to play.

The 23 year-old has now admitted that he came ‘close’ to coming to the Premier League over the summer however, but it wasn’t to join Arsenal.

“I was close to leaving,” the Express quotes the goalscorer as stating. “I spoke to Erik ten Hag a few times at Manchester United.

“In the end, the deal didn’t go through, which was a shame for me and my development. Manchester United is one of the biggest clubs in the world, but also for PSV because to transfer a player to Manchester United is a good thing for the club.

“It ended about a week before the end of the transfer window. And in that week I had to decide if I would go to Leeds or Southampton. In the end I stayed – but it was a stressful period. I always said if I stay here – it’s my childhood club – it’s not a punishment. I like being here, I want to win trophies here and do my best for the club.”

While we didn’t add another winger to our ranks in the latter days of the window, United managed to strike a monster deal with Ajax to sign Brazilian Antony, who has impressed thus far. They may not be in the market for another winger come January, whereas we will most likely be keen to bolster in that area of the team. Gakpo’s first-hand look at our stadium and team this week could well have given him food for thought on a move to the Emirates instead, and his form in recent seasons certainly tells us he is ready to make the jump to a bigger side.

Do you think we should firm up our interest in Gakpo in the coming 12 months?

Patrick

Watch Arteta on PSV, Xhaka and Saka and our third 1-0 win in a row!…

Please enjoy, watch and subscribe to JustArsenalVids

Tags Cody Gakpo

1 Comment

  1. He was anonymous playing against us. Maybe a winger needs some service and is dependent on the rest of the team for that, but I’m not sure he’s as good as the hype around him.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors