Cody Gakpo

Following Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from Manchester United, forward Cody Gakpo of PSV Eindhoven has been mentioned in connection with a possible transfer to the club during the January transfer window.

After Ronaldo's explosive interview with Piers Morgan, in which the 37-year-old criticized Erik ten Hag, United's hierarchy, and his former teammates, the striker has officially left the club by mutual agreement. This comes after Ronaldo's explosive interview with Piers Morgan. Ronaldo didn't get to play as much as he would have liked to during the first half of the season because Ten Hag preferred Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial in the central role. However, due to Martial's history of injuries, United may look to add more depth to their attack in the month of January.

According to MEN Sport's understanding, Manchester United are prepared to sign a forward during the international break in order to compensate for the loss of the five-time winner of the Ballon d'Or.

According to various reports, PSV may allow their star player, Gakpo, to leave the club in January following the conclusion of the 2022 World Cup. Gakpo has already contributed 14 goals and 14 assists for PSV this season.

If United were to sign Gakpo in January, would he be able to assist Ten Hag's squad in achieving their goal of finishing in the top four and possibly winning a trophy? Let's take a look.

In January, Cody Gakpo became a member of Manchester United thanks to our "signing" him.
In order to prepare for this simulation, we used the Football Manager 2023 editor to make arrangements for Gakpo's transfer from PSV to United on January 1, 2023. We then used FM23 to carry out the simulation. In addition to that, we released Ronaldo so that we could get the most accurate results possible and updated the Premier League with the most recent scores.

Ten Hag immediately inserted Gakpo into the starting eleven after he arrived and gave him the majority of his playing time on the left side of the attack. During his first year with the team, Gakpo made a total of 29 appearances, including 24 starts and five substitute appearances off the bench.

Cody Gakpo's stats from his time with Man United

The Netherlands international was outstanding in front of the net, as he scored nine goals across all competitions. On the other hand, he was uncreative, as he did not register a single assist and also had a low average rating of just 6.96 per game. The 23-year-old forward made the most of his opportunities in the Premier League, where he played 20 times and scored seven goals.

His other two goals were scored in the Europa League, but in the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup, he was unable to make a significant impact for his team. Gakpo was the fifth-highest scorer for United when compared to the rest of the squad, scoring the same number of goals as Antony in half the appearances. This placed Gakpo in fifth place.

Manchester United's top scorers from the 2022/23 season

Bruno Fernandes finished the season as United's leading scorer with 14 goals and nine assists. The midfielder excelled after Ronaldo left the team, which allowed him to take over as United's scoring leader. In the second half of the season, after Gakpo's arrival, Jadon Sancho reached his best form while wearing a Manchester United shirt. As a result, he finished the season with 13 goals, while Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial each scored 12 goals.

At the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, Football Manager 2022 compiled a best United XI, selecting players for the team based on their individual performances as well as statistics and other metrics. According to Football Manager 2022, the following is what Manchester United's starting eleven would look like at the end of the 2022–2023 season:

Gakpo didn't make the United best XI

Full United best XI (4-2-3-1) lineup: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Eriksen; Antony, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial.

After six months with the club, Gakpo was not selected to play in Manchester United's best eleven. Rashford and Antony were given the starting nods on either wing, and Anthony played behind Martial as the lone striker. Because the average rating is the most important factor in determining who should be in the best XI, Gakpo was not selected because his rating was the second lowest among all of the United forwards.

United accomplished their primary objective for the season, which was to finish in the top four of the Premier League and earn a spot in the Champions League for the following season. They were successful in both of these endeavors. The simulation concluded with United finishing third in the table, a significant distance ahead of Chelsea in fifth place.

United finished third in the Premier League

United racked up 78 points over the course of the 38 games, with a record of 24 wins, six draws, and eight losses. This put them 11 points ahead of Liverpool in fourth place and 14 points ahead of Chelsea. After the World Cup, Manchester City found themselves in their best form, and they went on to win the league with 99 points.

The Premier League was Gakpo's most successful competition, and the fact that three of the seven goals he scored in that league were game-winners demonstrates how important he was in such a short amount of time. The group captained by Ten Hag did not fare well in cup competitions and did not end up with a trophy at the end of the simulation.

Man United's cup results from the 2022/23 season

United advanced all the way to the championship game of the Europa League, but Roma won the game 1-0 thanks to a goal scored by Tammy Abraham in the first half. United was eliminated from the Carabao Cup quarterfinals against Newcastle after suffering a loss in a penalty shootout, and Ten Hag's side was a part of the most shocking result of the season when they were defeated 1-0 at home by Rotherham in the FA Cup fifth round.

This simulation suggests that if United were to sign Gakpo, the forward could make a strong impact in his first few months at the club, adding much-needed depth and competition to United's front line. Overall, the simulation suggests that if United were to sign Gakpo, the forward could make a strong impact in his first few months at the club. He was not timid in front of the goal as he scored nine times in just a few months at Old Trafford, and you can bet that with a full preseason under his belt, he could score significantly more than that the following season.