Dutch legend Marco van Basten feels a move to Premier League giants Liverpool could come too soon for PSV Eindhoven winger Cody Gakpo, speaking on Ziggo Sport’s Rondo programme.
Gakpo only has to look at the man he replaced on the PSV wing to realise that the grass isn’t always greener elsewhere.
That Hollywood cameo against Leicester City aside, Steven Bergwijn’s Tottenham Hotspur career hasn’t exactly gone to plan.
The fact that Bergwijn has spent much of the last two months being linked with a return to his native Netherlands – with league leaders Ajax – speaks volumes.
Then you’ve got Davy Klaassen, Afonso Alves, Matija Kezman, Vincent Janssen, Donny Van de Beek and Memphis Depay.
Recent history is littered with talented, up-and-coming players who failed to make the step up from the ADO Den Hags to the Arsenals, from the Twentes to the Tottenhams.
Should Cody Gakpo leave PSV for Liverpool?
“(Gakpo) has been in the Eredivisie for a year now,” says Van Basten, a three-time Ballon D’Or winner.
“You have to have a foundation to succeed abroad. That is three or four years in the Netherlands.
“Then, you are just a bit stronger, a bit better prepared for the higher level abroad. But, nowadays, they all want to leave after one year.
“The faster you leave, the more likely you are to fail. If you don’t succeed in those two, three years, then you go back to a club that is less. Then your career will look very bad.”
According to Voetbal International, 22-year-old Gakpo is in the sights of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
Now, there can be no doubts about his potential.
Gakpo is arguably a more complete footballer than Bergwijn was when he joined Tottenham for an eye-watering £27 million, combining fearsome speed and ferocious power with impressive decision making for one so young.
He’s set up 11 goals and scored ten himself in 28 games this term.
But, as Van Basten is at pains to point out, there’s no need for Gakpo not need to run before he can walk.
“They are constantly approached by agents saying: ‘Look, you can earn that there. You can earn that at that club’,” Van Basten adds.
“At some point, I was able to go to Fiorentina. I thought to myself: ‘Am I ready for Fiorentina?’ No. But that agent wanted me to go. Because that’s just money for him and for me.
“What you have to do is sit yourself in an attic room and ask yourself: ‘Is this what I want’? Then when you think you’re ready, you go.”
PSV director John de Jong knows that Gakpo is unlikely to stay in the Eredivisie for much longer.
But, speaking to De Telegraaf, he insists that the four-time Netherlands international still has a lot to learn, particularly with regards to his work-rate out of possession.
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