Boxing Day will reunite Cody Gakpo with his former PSV Eindhoven manager in Ruud van Nistelrooy, with the Leicester boss having enjoyed his ridiculous form.
Gakpo could start again at Anfield on Thursday night, with Arne Slot able to call upon a well-rested squad with four days between fixtures.
If he does, the Dutch forward will come up against a former coach in Van Nistelrooy, with the new Leicester manager having worked with him while in charge at PSV.
Van Nistelrooy was in the dugout at the time of Gakpo’s January switch to Anfield, with the 25-year-old having moved to Merseyside on the back of a stunning half-season in Eindhoven.
Having taken over at PSV from the start of the 2022/23 campaign, the former Man United striker relied heavily upon Gakpo on the left wing.
In 24 games in the first half of that season, Gakpo scored 13 goals and laid on a further 17 assists – a total of 30 goal contributions.
He averaged a goal or assist every 65.3 minutes and only failed to score or tee up a teammate in three of his 14 appearances in the Eredivisie.
That helped convince Jurgen Klopp and in particular Pepijn Lijnders to push for a deal to bring Gakpo to Liverpool mid-season, having also seen him shine with three goals five games for the Netherlands at the winter World Cup.
Liverpool paid £37 million for his services, with Klopp of the belief that they would be out-priced if they waited any longer to clinch a deal.
And in 104 appearances since, Gakpo has scored 32 times and assisted another 12 for the Reds which, though far from his prolific best under Van Nistelrooy at PSV, has made him a key player for both Klopp and now Arne Slot.
Van Nistelrooy was forced to deny fake reports soon after Gakpo’s switch to Liverpool that he had “refused his advice” to wait for his “dream move” to Man United.
However, former United teammate Gary Neville went on to claim that the new Leicester manager had disagreed with Klopp’s use of the forward, claiming he told him “he’s a left winger, that’s it.”
“I went to speak to Ruud just after [Gakpo] first got to Liverpool and he was struggling a little bit,” Neville explained on Stick to Football back in July.
“And I said to him ‘what about Gakpo?’, because obviously United were looking at him.
“He said ‘he’s a left winger, that’s it’. So when Klopp was playing him like false nine or centre-forward or a bit deeper in midfield at times, Ruud said he had him there at PSV and was absolutely a left winger.”
Slot clearly agrees with his fellow coach, with Gakpo now playing exclusively on the left.
