Ruud van Nistelrooy was scarcely an impartial observer. His advice may have been laced with self-interest, both as the current PSV Eindhoven manager and a former Manchester United player, but he told Cody Gakpo to wait and then go to Old Trafford. It was, he mischievously later said, Gakpo’s dream move. Gakpo didn’t listen; or not to Van Nistelrooy, anyway. Virgil van Dijk helped persuade him to join Liverpool instead.
The wisdom of the decision could be disputed. Before he had even debuted for Liverpool, they had been eviscerated by Brentford. He played in the embarrassments at Brighton and Wolves. He was in the attack in the first European game in their illustrious history when they conceded five goals at Anfield.
