Liverpool agree deal for World Cup star

Liverpool picked up three points on their return to Premier League action on Monday courtesy of a 3-1 win over Aston Villa. 

Goals from Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Stefan Bajcetic gave Jurgen Klopp’s side a much needed win, and moved The Reds to within five points of the top four.

Up next for Liverpool is a home game against Leicester City, but in the meantime it appears that they have tied up a deal for one of Europe’s most coveted players.

As reported by Sky Sports, Liverpool have a deal in place to sign PSV star Cody Gakpo, the Eredivisie side have announced.

The 23-year-old has been in sensational form for the Dutch side this season, scoring 13 goals and providing 17 assists in 24 matches across all competitions.

He carried his fine form into the World Cup, where he netted three times for The Netherlands as they reached the quarter-finals.

Now, he is set to join Liverpool as the Premier League side have agreed a fee between £35 million and £45 million to land the player.

The club statement revealed that the player will travel to Merseyside imminently, in order to complete the necessary formalities ahead of the deal being finalised when the January window opens.

Gakpo scored three times at the World Cup in Qatar

A number of other clubs, including Manchester United, were said to be interested in Gakpo, while Leeds United were reportedly on the verge of signing the Dutchman over the summer.

The Red Devils were allegedly considering a move for Gakpo over the summer, but they decided not to pursue the PSV star after signing winger Antony from Erik ten Hag’s former side Ajax.

Southampton, who currently sit bottom of the Premier League table, also had an offer rejected for the versatile forward, who can be deployed in a number of roles across midfield and in attack.

Klopp’s side, meanwhile, have been struggling with injuries to their current crop of forwards so far this season, with both Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota having already missed large spells of the campaign.

The former was expected to return to fitness in the coming weeks, but he is now likely to miss another three months after suffering a setback during his recovery.

Roberto Firmino also missed out on Liverpool’s Carabao Cup loss to Manchester City last week, and was once again unavailable for the win over Villa on Monday.