Cody Gakpo has admitted that since Jurgen Klopp used him as a centre forward at Liverpool, that position has become his preferred one.
The Reds reportedly paid £35.4 million for the Dutch international in January, but he struggled in his first few Premier League games while playing out on the left flank.
Gakpo, though, began to truly find his stride at Anfield after being switched into a centre striker position, and he was able to end the season with a respectable tally of seven Premier League goals.
Gakpo has expressed his love for his new position and said he would be eager to play in the striker position for the Dutch national team ahead of his participation in the Nations League finals this week.
“Now that I’m playing at Liverpool I think it’s a nice position,” he told the media. “I have become convinced that being a striker suits me.
“Guus Hiddink was the first [to use Gakpo as a striker]. He spent a while at PSV as a sounding board, saw me play and said: ‘You have to become a striker or a false nine’. I didn’t want to believe it then. And then when Roger Schmidt said the same thing later at PSV when he was coach, I was even more stubborn. It felt good on the left flank.
“But at the last World Cup I was already more central on the field and at Liverpool permanently in the past six months. It’s been good. I’m excited now to get better in the position in the near future, for the club as well as the national team.”
Due to Memphis Depay’s injury, Gakpo might have the opportunity to play as the national team’s number nine against Croatia on Wednesday. Due to a thigh injury, the Atletico Madrid attacker is now out.