InterviewInspiRED, by Kodansha: Family, tears and Anfield - Cody Gakpo's football journey so far

The Reds’ No.18 is still less than a year into his time on Merseyside, though the hard work that has got him to where he is today in the Anfield ranks has been almost a lifetime in the making.

It is often joked that professional footballers must have been born with a ball at their feet such is the skill they possess, yet for Gakpo that statement isn’t quite as farfetched as it may seem.

“We have a family that loves football,” Gakpo told Liverpoolfc.com, as part of Kodansha’s InspiRED series.

“My older brother is six years older than me and by the time I was born he was already playing. At a really young age, like two or three, I went with my parents to watch his games.

“I think that was my first time really experiencing football and then when I became four, I also started at the same football club as my brother did. So, when he was playing in the garden, or inside the house, which my parents didn’t like but we always did when we were young, I kind of joined in.

“When I was really young, I didn’t know how to play, but I just was trying to kick the ball away from him. That’s where it started.”

At the age of six, Gakpo began spending his Sundays with boyhood club PSV Eindhoven on a trial basis, eventually making his way into their academy and onto their books permanently.

As football became more serious, so did the family support around him, with training sessions alongside his dad and older brother becoming a regular occurrence, as well as lifts to training from his mum.

“They were supportive all the way,” he continued. “I think without them I could not have done it. I wouldn’t have been here at Liverpool right now without them, I think.

“They’re helping me still and every step of the way they help me. I trained a lot, still training a lot with my dad, with my brother speaking a lot. When I was young my dad and my mum, they brought me everywhere even though they had no time.”

Growing up in Eindhoven, Champions League broadcasts on terrestrial television and playing video games with friends provided Gakpo’s limited insight into the English game, with his footballing heroes – a familiar name to Liverpool supporters among them – remaining firmly close to home.

As he reached his later teenage years, he was very much amidst those he idolised, pushing hard to step up into the first team at PSV, ahead of being afforded his chance in the senior set-up under former coach Phillip Cocu.

“In the beginning it was like PSV players because you don’t really know anything else besides the Netherlands,” Gakpo said of his early role models.

“You had [Ibrahim] Afellay in the team, you had [Jefferson] Farfan the right winger, you had a lot of players even when I was in the academy, but I was already a little bit older. Gini [Wijnaldum] was playing in PSV. Memphis [Depay] too. You had a lot of good players at PSV. It was a nice time.

“Gini was a great player in PSV at the time. They became champions; him, Memphis, Luuk de Jong, they played hard there. You try to do the things they do. I was training at PSV already, so you don’t really want to be like them, but you’re trying to learn from them. So, what they do, why is it working for them and what can I learn from them.”

At 24, he has achieved a lot in the game already after bursting his way into the senior ranks of his boyhood club.

Gakpo earned the Dutch Footballer of the Year title in 2021-22, while he represented the Netherlands at the delayed Euro 2020 tournament, before last year scoring in three successive World Cup group games for his country in Qatar.

His crowning moment to date, though, is one that every young footballer can relate to having dreams about, having scored the winning goal as PSV captain against Ajax in the 2022 KNVB Cup final.

“I think it was the first time I cried on the pitch in professional football,” Gakpo recalled. “It was really emotional, like the whole season was.

“At the time I was the captain, so it was like a lot, and then you win and then you also score. It was a really emotional day, but I’m really happy that we won the cup and from that point I think it only went better with the club and PSV as well.

“I think when you start this is the dream. Everybody has playing at the World Cup, winning the World Cup as the dream, winning the Champions League; everything. You want to win everything. But once you get a little bit older, you’re going to realise it’s not for everybody, so you have to work really hard.”

Footballers often speak about the internal pressure from within outweighing that of the outside world, and there can often be no hiding place from mistakes or bad results.

“Of course, there’s pressure from outside, you’re at PSV, it’s a big club and you have to perform,” Gakpo continued.

“Here at Liverpool, it’s exactly the same, [but] even more. We have to perform as a team and as a person to show what the club is about. I cannot speak for other players, but if I speak for myself, I think the pressure you put on yourself is the most.

“It’s the most what you get involved with because you have a family and everything you want to provide for and you want to make them happy, you want to make them proud, you want to make yourself proud. I think it’s more like the pressure from inside is more touching you than from outside.”

His introduction to Liverpool supporters after moving in January 2023 was swift, becoming a regular figure in Jürgen Klopp’s side, with his versatility playing a key role in his selection across the pitch.

And Gakpo did wonders for his initial adaptation at Anfield by scoring his first goal for the Reds in a Merseyside derby in February, a month after his arrival.

“I knew obviously the Merseyside derby is a big, big thing,” he said. “It felt unreal. I almost want to say the same as the winning goal in the [Dutch] cup final, but almost the same.”

Then, three weeks later, he contributed to a day for the history books by netting twice in the stunning 7-0 victory over Manchester United.

“I think the first goal is something that I practised like all my life because I played as a winger,” Gakpo continued. “Before I came here, I played as a winger like five or six years. And this is something you know, you come from the outside, go inside, find the long corner.

“That was something I really trained on, and I was happy I got the chance to show everybody that I was capable of doing that. The second one was… the only thing I could do was this, I think, so it was a split-[second] decision.”

Hard work, Gakpo believes, has been the key to his journey in the game and is the most important element of where he is today.

“I think for every player it is different,” he said. “I have a few things that’s helping me a lot throughout my career so far. But I think for sure you have to work really hard, but you also have to enjoy it and that’s difficult at some points, because you’re really always focused on the next thing.

“You have to work really hard and I think for me in this new generation, that everything is going really fast, I think you also need to stay calm, because sometimes somebody or something is going maybe quicker than you and you are in a rush and then you lose like the quality you have.

“I think if you try to stay calm, it’s difficult for me as well, but if you try to stay calm and keep working really hard, I think at the end you will get your fruits from it. For me as well I’m thanking God every day that he is helping me with everything I do, staying calm as well, and giving me the ability and the talent that I have today. Those three things are for me the key things and then I have a beautiful family around. They’re helping me to push.”

Though his Liverpool career is still somewhat in its infancy, he has strong aims to be as successful as possible during his time in L4, a passion he has harboured from the first time he kicked a ball with his brother all those years ago.

“Liverpool is a massive club,” Gakpo concluded. “I cannot compare it to PSV, but the inside looks a little bit the same – it’s really warm.

“It’s really like a family and for me it was the same at PSV. The boys, the staff, everybody made me feel at home very quick at the beginning actually. I think one of the big things from this club, it’s like a big family and I’m really grateful for that as well.”