New Liverpool acquisition With a goal against Everton on Monday, Cody Gakpo made his presence known at Anfield. But is he familiar with all of Jurgen Klopp’s guidelines?
Since arriving in Merseyside in a £37 million deal from PSV Eindhoven last month, the 23-year-old Dutchman has played seven times for the Reds. After settling in, the attacker has already established himself by scoring Liverpool’s second goal against their local rivals in a crucial 2-0 victory.
However, keen-eyed spectators caught the Netherlands international engaging in a rite that is, at least temporarily, off-limits to him. Gakpo was observed touching the “This is Anfield” sign over his head as he walked through the tunnel toward the field of play before to the game. The incident was captured on the team’s Inside Anfield YouTube channel.
Despite how harmless it may seem, this is against a “regulation” that Kop manager Klopp instituted at the beginning of his administration. He said, “I’ve advised my players not to touch the This Is Anfield” sign until they win something,” back in 2016.
Since the new rule was announced by Liverpool’s manager, the club has swept the board in terms of hardware, but young players like Gakpo have not yet earned that privilege. Even the summer addition Darwin Nunez might dispute his entitlement after the Reds won the Community Shield, but the new number 18 is still very young.
Some questions remain unresolved in light of the gesture. Gakpo was aware of the regulation, or has Klopp amended it now that the team is once again successful? He’s done it before, right? More significantly, after scoring his first goal in the subsequent game, will Gakpo dare try the trick again? It might be advantageous for him.
Regardless, Liverpool fans won’t care too much as long as the former Eindhoven star can keep adding goals to his total, which already includes 13 for PSV this season and three for Holland at the World Cup.