Former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam has told his old club that they have more chance of signing Cody Gakpo than Liverpool but he questioned whether the Reds would want him.
Gakpo has revealed since the summer that Erik ten Hag contacted him about a move to the Premier League club in his first transfer window at United. However, the move was blocked due to PSV Eindhoven being unwilling to let their star man go without adequate time to replace him.
In the months that have followed, Gakpo has scored 13 goals and notched 17 assists for PSV and he has carried on his impressive form at the World Cup with the Dutch. So far, the 23-year-old has three in three to his name at the Qatar tournament.
ALSO READ: United's strongest line-up with Gakpo
Discussing his fellow countryman, Stam explained that he could see Gakpo moving to United ahead of Liverpool. "Man United still have the pulling power to convince Cody Gakpo to sign for them ahead of Liverpool," he told Football Betting.
"Before the start of the season, everyone was talking about them [Liverpool] being one of the contenders to win the Premier League title and I don't rule them out but we're seeing that even a team like that with a lot of experience is struggling to do well. Whereas, Man United have hired a new manager, new players, there's a new plan in terms of what they're trying to achieve and that makes it interesting for young players, especially from Holland to join Man United, one of the biggest clubs in the world and work with Erik ten Hag. "
Despite believing United is a better prospect for him than Liverpool, Stam did question whether the forward is on the club's radar. "I still think that Man United need a winger and because everyone is talking about Cody Gakpo, people are going to assume that Man United are going to go for him but I don't know if that's the situation," he added.
"Gakpo would be a player that would fit into the Man United squad. There would be questions over whether he can deliver straight away because he's from Holland and we have seen people struggle in the past.
"The question is then, do Man United need to go for a more experienced winger that has maybe played at a certain level so that they can have an impact straight away." Gakpo is likely to be back in action on Saturday when the Netherlands take on USA in Al Rayyan.
READ NEXT:
