'Special': Chelsea reportedly almost signed £37m player in January, now he's absolutely flying

Reports have claimed that Chelsea came with late interest to try and sign Cody Gakpo before he made his move to Liverpool.

According to The Athletic, the Dutchman had already made his mind up in deciding to join international teammate Virgil van Dijk at Anfield.

The Blues enjoyed a fruitful January transfer window, where they strengthened greatly particularly in the wide areas of the attack.

Photo by Photo Prestige/Soccrates/Getty Images

They brought in young stars Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke for big money, in an attempt to bring some direct and goalscoring options to the wings at Stamford Bridge.

Someone who has become a regular scorer as of late is Gakpo. He has now scored in big games against Everton, Newcastle and Manchester United after starting off goalless in his first six games.

He is now absolutely flying, and this has not gone unnoticed by his coaches.

Gakpo the one that got away

Assistant manager Pep Lijnders has described him as ‘special’, whilst he has quickly become a favourite for manager Jurgen Klopp.

Chelsea may get the feeling that they’ve missed out on a potential gem, especially when looking at the fortunes of their own wingers that they signed two months ago.

Mudryk has recently been left out of the side, notably for their biggest game of the season against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images

It has been questioned by many whether the signing has been made with the backing of Graham Potter, with the manager currently struggling to utilise him to the best of his abilities.

Madueke meanwhile is not available for the European games, after not being one of the three January signings included in the squad.

The young Englishman is also without a start for quite a while now, and this may become harder to come by now Raheem Sterling is back to full fitness.

The post 'Special': Chelsea reportedly almost signed £37m player in January, now he's absolutely flying appeared first on The Chelsea Chronicle.

from News – The Chelsea Chronicle https://ift.tt/QIoxhid