Liverpool set to beat Manchester United to signing of one-time Leeds United target Cody Gakpo

According to reports in the national press on Boxing Day evening, the 23-year-old PSV Eindhoven striker who scored three goals as the Dutch reached the quarter-finals in Qatar, is set to join Liverpool for a fee in the region of £37m.

Manchester United had been strongly linked to making a move for Gakpo in the January transfer window and were thought to be in pole position given their manager’ Erik ten Hag’s Dutch links.

But it appears their bitter rivals have beaten them to it and the move could be sealed as soon as the window opens at the start of January.

Leeds United had made a move for Gakpo in the summer, as had Manchester United, and at one stage Gakpo faced a choice between staying at PSV or joining Leeds.

Gakpo said during the World Cup: "I was close to leaving (in the summer), I spoke to Erik ten Hag a few times at Manchester United.

"In the end the deal didn’t go through, which was a shame, for me and my development, and because Manchester United is one of the biggest clubs in the world, but also for PSV, because to transfer a player to Manchester United is a good thing for the club.

"It ended about a week before the end of the transfer window and in that week I had to decide if I would go to Leeds or Southampton. In the end I stayed, but it was a stressful period."