Virgil van Dijk's role in Liverpool's bid to sign Cody Gakpo

Liverpool were helped in their pursuit of PSV Eindhoven forward Cody Gakpo by an intervention from Dutch international teammate Virgil van Dijk.

Gakpo starred alongside Van Dijk for Netherlands at this winter's World Cup, reaching the quarter-finals before falling to eventual winners Argentina on penalties.

During the tournament, the Oranje captain sung the praises of his side's newest scoring sensation: "Hopefully Cody can go to the moon and back. He is a very good player and a good boy too.

"What we see in training is what you see on the pitch. There is still so much potential and I hope he can carry on showing it for us. We are very happy with him."

Van Dijk also suggested that Liverpool needed some fresh blood in the January transfer window following their 3-1 win at Aston Villa on Boxing Day.

"Hopefully the injured players can come back soon, and hopefully we can welcome some new players at our football club," he said.

"We will see. I think that quality is always welcome at Liverpool."

In the hours that followed that victory, it was widely reported that the Reds had stolen a march on rivals Manchester United and all but secured Gakpo's signature.

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Dutch outlet Eindhovens Dagblad claim that Van Dijk played a role in the recruitment of Gakpo, making contact with the forward to help convince him head to Anfield this winter.

Van Dijk himself was the subject of a similar pitch from Georginio Wijnaldum ahead of his own move to Liverpool midway through the 2017/18 season, with the now former Reds midfielder advising the then-Southampton defender to 'follow his heart'.

Should Gakpo complete the transfer in the near future, he could make his Liverpool debut as soon as next Monday when they travel to Brentford.