Manchester United are now increasingly likely to sign PSV Eindhoven winger Cody Gakpo in January, following the fallout from Cristiano Ronaldo’s explosive interview, according to journalist Graeme Bailey.

Multiple reports suggest that Ronaldo’s contract could now be terminated and Bailey believes that the Red Devils will turn to Gakpo as they seek to replace him:

“Cody Gakpo, a bit of an update on him. PSV are fully expecting him to leave in January. When you think back, they got knocked out of the Champions League and that had an effect on them financially, so they could do with the money.They had that Champions League money in their equations, so that Gakpo move makes sense now. The Ronaldo situation will have a knock-on effect with Gakpo I think. He has the same representatives as Erik ten Hag, so everything points towards Gakpo and United. We know Arsenal have had a sniff around him recently, but I think if you’re a Leeds or Southampton fan, your chance has gone.”

Gakpo is believed to be valued at around €50m (£44m) by PSV so his asking price will not be a problem, but there are question marks over where he would play. Despite Bailey claiming that the Dutchman would be seen as Ronaldo’s replacement, he doesn’t usually play as a centre-forward.

The majority of Gakpo’s minutes for PSV this season have been as a left winger, which means he would be competing for game time with Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho if he did complete a move to Old Trafford. We shall have to wait and see whether manager Erik ten Hag has different plans for the player.