‘Fantastic player’: Cody Gakpo now says 31-year-old Liverpool man has helped him so much since joining

Cody Gakpo has praised the impact Roberto Firmino has had since his arrival at Liverpool in January.

Speaking before Liverpool’s defeat to Bournemouth on BT Sport (11/3 11:35am), Gakpo was asked how he was adjusting to life at the club.

It’s been an up-and-down few months for Cody Gakpo since arriving from PSV Eindhoven.

It took him time to get used to Jurgen Klopp’s style of football, failing to score in his first six appearances.

Back-to-back goals against Everton and Newcastle were followed up with a brace against Manchester United.

Jamie Carragher admitted he didn’t want Gakpo to start that match last weekend, but was quickly proven wrong.

Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images

And his pace is sure to cause plenty of problems for defenders in the future.

It’s an aspect of Gakpo’s game that Liverpool may look to utilise when he eventually replaces Bobby Firmino.

The Brazilian is on his way out of Anfield at the end of the season when his contract expires.

However, he’s still got a few months to pass his knowledge onto the young Dutchman.

Gakpo praises impact of Liverpool star Firmino

Gakpo was asked on BT Sport about the impact Firmino had had on his game since he arrived and said: “I think everybody, maybe you know more than me, knows he’s a fantastic player.

“He plays the [false nine] role really well, so I try to learn whatever I can.

“[I] look at how he moves, looks at how he touches [the ball], when he looks over his shoulder and stuff like that.

“I really try to learn from him, and he’s also a great guy so he tries to help me as well, so that’s really nice.”

Photo by STEVE BARDENS/AFP via Getty Images

Gakpo has spent much of his career up to this point playing as an inside forward off the left.

His incredible goals and assists tally in the Netherlands suggest he could play a role through the middle.

However, Gakpo’s going to take some time to reach the levels of effectiveness that Firmino has at Liverpool.

Given how much competition he has to play off the left, the faster he can prove himself as a central forward the better.

Right now, all he’ll want to do is write off a poor performance from the entire Liverpool squad as they dropped a costly three points.

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