Cody Gakpo has insisted he will not allow the prospect of a move, possibly to Manchester United, to distract him from his bid to win the World Cup with the Netherlands and said he will make a decision about his future after the tournament.
The PSV Eindhoven winger, who attracted interest from United in the summer, is adamant the uncertainty about where he will play is not a distraction now.
United manager Erik ten Hag has said he wants to sign another attacker and he has lost a forward from his squad with Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Old Trafford by mutual agreement.
Gakpo, who scored in all three group games for the Netherlands, will face Argentina in a World Cup quarter-final on Friday after the Oranje’s win over the USA on Saturday, and is ignoring talk of a transfer.
“I’m not thinking about that now,” he said. “I’m just really focused on the tournament, trying to keep performing well and helping the team and hopefully when we become world champion then I can think about that [the future].
“I’m just trying to keep focused and the other players don’t really talk about those things which also helps me in this situation.”
The 23-year-old, who is tied with Enner Valencia, Lionel Messi, Marcus Rashford, Kylian Mbappe and Alvaro Morata on three goals in the race for the World Cup golden boot, scored 21 goals for PSV last season and already has 13 so far this campaign. He attracted bids last summer from Leeds and Southampton and Jesse Marsch said a move to Elland Road was “99.9 percent” agreed but feels Gakpo is now too expensive for the Yorkshire club.
“It’s difficult for us at Leeds because I think Gakpo’s gotten out of our price range,” Marsch told Men In Blazers.
“We were so close to securing a transfer for him in the summer, it was so close, and now obviously it’s disappointing.”
PSV director of football Marcel Brands said Leeds offered an initial £30 million with a further £13 million in add-ons for Gakpo but the price for him is expected to be considerably higher now.
