Marco van Basten has warned PSV Eindhoven winger Cody Gakpo against leaving the Netherlands, amid reports linking him with a move to Liverpool.
Gakpo has been in prolific form this season, scoring six goals and providing 10 assists in 15 league games.
This has led to reports stating that the 22-year-old has held ' exploratory talks ' with both Liverpool and Manchester City over a possible transfer in the summer.
However, Dutch football legend Van Basten has suggested that it is too early for Gakpo to take the next step in his career.
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“He has been in the Eredivisie for a year now,” Voetbal4U reports the former AC Milan striker as saying, via Sport Witness .
“You have to have a basis to succeed abroad. That is three, four years in the Netherlands.
“Then you’re just a bit stronger, a bit better prepared for the higher level abroad – because it all goes much harder and faster. But nowadays, they all want to leave after one year.
“The sooner you leave, the greater the chance of not succeeding. If you don’t succeed in those two, three years, then you go to another club that is less. Then your career is going to look very nasty.
Van Basten used his own career as an example, highlighting that he was approached by Fiorentina early in his playing days but chose to remain at Ajax, before he was ready to move to Milan.
“They are constantly approached by that agent saying: ‘Look, you can earn that there. You can earn that at that club’. It’s far too much about buying those guys off,” he continued.
“What you have to do is sit in an attic room and ask yourself: 'Is this what I want?' Then when you think you’re ready, you go.”
Despite the 57-year-old’s claims that Gakpo is relatively new to the Eredivisie, the Dutch international became a first-team regular at PSV during the 2018/19 season.
Having gone on to captain the club in certain games this term, the academy graduate has been open about his future.
“It looks like I’m going to renew my contract,” Gakpo said.
"The clubs that want something are also known to me, I’ve had conversations about that with my agent.
“Very interesting clubs have been added, but we have to look at what the first step is.”
