Man Utd and Arsenal transfer target Cody Gakpo reveals how Ruud van Nistelrooy has turned him into strike sensation
CODY GAKPO is a grade A student when it comes to finishing.
That is because he has one of the Premier League’s greatest poachers as his teacher at PSV in Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The Dutch winger has become one of Europe’s top talents scoring 17 goals and laying on 15 assists as the club remain in the hunt for their first league title since 2018.
And with ex-Manchester United star Van Nistelrooy showing him the dark arts it is no surprise Gakpo has developed an eye for goal.
Van Nistelrooy, 45, scored 95 goals in 150 appearances for the Red Devils but has been learning his trade as a coach at his boyhood club since retiring in 2012.
Gakpo, 22, told SunSport: “Van Nistelrooy was my striker trainer in the academy.
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“I have learned a lot from him and I look up to him. He’s spoken to me about how to finish in certain situations and it helped me a lot.
“He told me some tricks on shooting and keeping my options open. Shoot low and hard, not beautiful and high. A goal is a goal, you know. I am grateful he did.”
Van Nistelrooy will finally get his chance to become a first-team boss next season after signing a three-year deal to replace the outgoing manager Roger Schmidt.
But his first job will be keeping his most prized student out of the clutches of Europe’s top clubs.
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Liverpool have sent out scouts to watch the £42million-rated attacker, while United and Arsenal are also in the race to sign him this summer.
Gakpo penned a contract extension with the club until 2026 in January but PSV are believed to be open to selling up this summer.
He said: “I try to stay focused on what I am doing now and finishing the season really well, then after that I can focus on something else.
“If I can make a step to a team who plays in the Champions League every season, of course it is my dream. But I still have a contract and there is a new coach coming in — but maybe there comes a club I cannot say no to.
“Maybe they won’t come and I have to stay but for now I just want to keep working on this season.”
Standing at 6ft 2in, Gakpo is a tall, strong and pacy attacker who has the ability to run at defenders.
And with his eye for goal coming from the left-wing after cutting back onto his favoured right-foot he has been likened to Thierry Henry.
The Dutch ace revealed he would love a chance to play in the Premier League after watching Henry and the Gunners growing up.
PREM AMBITION
He added: “The Premier League is a big league. Virgil van Dijk plays there with Liverpool so I like to watch them.
“We are not the same kind of league but I think we try to look at the Prem and learn about it. Everybody wants to play one time in the Prem. I don’t favour one team but I like Arsenal a lot.
“I looked up to Henry when I was younger because he was a tall guy who played on the wing.”
PSV are a club with a philosophy of developing players before selling them on. In addition to Van Nistelrooy, the likes of Jaap Stam, Arjen Robben, Ronald Koeman and Brazilian legend Ronaldo all made a name for themselves in Eindhoven.
Their latest line of departed stars are Spurs winger Steven Bergwijn, full-back Denzel Dumfries who plays for Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund forward Donyell Malen.
He added: "I played with Bergwijn, Denzel and Donyell Malen.
“When I see them with the national team we speak about how it’s going at their clubs.
“Stevie is playing in the Prem and doing well. He has given me his advice about the league and told me how it feels to play in the Prem because I was curious about other countries.”
Gakpo will get the chance to announce himself to an English audience tomorrow when PSV take on Leicester in the Europa Conference League quarter-finals.
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He said: “They have some really good players.
“We are going into the first game to win. We can show them how good we are, personally I will need to bring my best performance.”
