Cody Gakpo is viewed by Lothar Matthäus as a potential Jude Bellingham replacement at Borussia Dortmund. The 19-year-old Bellingham, who has ties to teams like Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Real Madrid, made an impression for the English national team during the World Cup.
Bellingham already left a lasting impression at Borussia Dortmund, but Matthäus highlights in a column for BILD that he has been even more impressed by the ‘maturity’ in his performance and his ability to keep up his level. The former world champ claimed that he was a key member of the “solid English midfield.”
Matthäus, who is considering Gakpo as a replacement, stated, “I genuinely think it is likely that more than 150 million euros will be paid for him. There is a new World Cup development that might take the place of Bellingham and likely would be less expensive. I’m referring to PSV’s Cody Gakpo. He scored three goals, demonstrating his threatening potential in a Dutch squad that was more defensively focused.”
It might not be a brilliant idea to recommend Gakpo as a replacement for Bellingham. Gakpo mostly serves as an attacking midfielder or striker, while Bellingham is a box-to-box midfielder.
Wim Kieft, on the other hand, does not believe that Gakpo’s potential is as large as some people believe. Despite the fact that he was one of the Orange’s most important players during the tournament. Despite scoring in every group game, Kieft believes, “Cody Gakpo is not a huge talent. Cody Gakpo performed admirably, scoring in three straight group games. He has potential but is not a super talent.”
Wim Kieft is unimpressed with the Dutch national team’s attackers
Additionally, Wim Kieft is unimpressed with the Dutch national team’s attackers. At the World Cup, Memphis Depay and Steven Bergwijn were ineffective. When reflecting on the World Cup thus far, Kieft writes in his column for De Telegraaf, “Orange star attacker Memphis Depay was not fit to play a key part. A Memphis who is physically fit is a good player, but not the best. You could see that in the European Championships the year before when he also failed to make an impact under Frank de Boer.”
“Steven Bergwijn hardly appeared at all throughout this World Cup. In the fall of last year, he enjoyed a very brief excellent run with the Orange team playing mostly unimportant matches against small opposition. On the top pedestal, playing and executing well under pressure is a quality. He misses that, as seen by his unsuccessful individual actions and shoots,” he concludes.
