When Jurgen Klopp contacted, I was on the verge of joining Man United, but I couldn’t turn down a transfer to Liverpool.

Manchester United was taken aback when one of Erik ten Hag’s top targets was taken advantage of by Liverpool.

Cody Gakpo has maintained that joining Liverpool instead of Manchester United was the right decision. In the summer of 2022, the 24-year-old forward was strongly connected to a move to Old Trafford; however, a deal fell through, and six months later, he signed with the Reds.

The attacker said he felt left hanging when United manager Erik ten Hag decided to spend £86 million to sign Antony from Ajax in the last few hours of the transfer window. While the Liverpool player has been instrumental in helping Jurgen Klopp win the title, the United great has found it difficult to get his team into the top four this season.

Gakpo, whose Anfield contract expires in 2028, has contributed three assists and three goals in his previous eight Premier League appearances. The Reds manager has depended on the Netherlands international to take some of the pressure in front of goal while Mohamed Salah recovers from an injury.

Thanks to Gakpo’s outstanding efforts, Liverpool has been able to hold onto the top spot in the standings. But if the former PSV Eindhoven talisman had waited to sign with United, everything might have turned out very differently.

Before the Reds’ match against Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon, Gakpo was questioned by Sky Sports about his unsuccessful transfer to Old Trafford. It was the previous summer, he remarked.

“I spoke with the manager, who is Dutch, and I was in communication with the club.” Ultimately, it failed, that much is true, and during the winter, Liverpool arrived. For me, that was the right choice.”

Gakpo acknowledged shortly after signing a contract with Liverpool that he had discussed a move to United with Ruud van Nistelrooy before to joining the Reds. “To be honest, I spoke to him [Van Nistelrooy] a lot about United in the summer when the transfer looked like it may be coming,” he remarked, as reported by the Manchester Evening News.

But not really in the winter. Ruud had wished that I would join a major league team, and I believe I have done it with Liverpool. The summer was a time of great speculation. Yes, it had some effect on me because it was the first window with moveable furniture.

However, there was a point when I simply told them to forget about it, play their best, and perhaps it would come up in the winter or next summer. I tried that, and it worked out nicely.”

Gakpo continued, “I believe the sale was completed five days after I learned about Liverpool’s interest. My manager and brother were aware of it for a longer period of time, but I told them not to tell me anything since I needed to concentrate during the World Cup.

“I thought, ‘Come on, let’s go,’ as soon as I heard about the interest. Do you celebrate Christmas twice? Isn’t that Boxing Day? While I was with the family, which included aunts and nieces, I kept getting calls about Liverpool.

Nevertheless, I wasn’t using my phone on Christmas Day. The phone was not used because that was a very crucial day. It occurred the very following day.”