Liverpool FC added the reigning Dutch Footballer of the Year to their squad with the signing of versatile forward Cody Gakpo in January 2023.

Gakpo set out on his journey towards the professional game by trialling with PSV Eindhoven at the age of six, beginning a development that would see him blossom into a leading figure for club and country.

Having progressed all the way through the Eredivisie side's youth ranks, a first chance to represent the team he supported as a boy at senior level arrived in February 2018 with a brief substitute appearance against Feyenoord in league action.

The special moment of his maiden goal for PSV came later in the same year, with Gakpo opening the scoring in a 4-0 Dutch cup victory away at Excelsior Maassluis in the September.

The...