Focused Ruud van Nistelrooy insists PSV star Cody Gakpo has parked talk of megabucks Man United move to steer his team past Rangers into the Champions League.
The Dutch winger is being linked with a £35million switch to Old Trafford after being identified by new Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag. But the Eredivisie giants have insisted no deal will be struck until their group-stage fate has been settled by their crucial upcoming play-off double header with Gers.
Former United hero van Nistelrooy knows the talk of a massive Premier League move has the potential to distract his star man. But the PSV Eindhoven gaffer has nothing but praise for Gakpo and the way he has shrugged off the speculation. He said: "What I think is so clever about Cody is that he tries to park it all. Of course a lot is happening around Cody at the moment, you can't close off the world. But when I talk to him, it's only about how he can improve as a player at PSV.
"And so I don't talk to him about a possible choice for abroad, because that is not an issue at all. If he asks to speak? Then we will talk about it and then I can give him some advice, but nothing is going on."
Van Nistelrooy is also looking to block out talk of next week’s first-leg Champions Leagu e trip to Ibrox, where he will come up against former Holland team-mate Gio van Bronckhorst in their dug-out battle. PSV face Go Ahead Eagles later this afternoon before jetting out to Glasgow and the Dutchman is refusing to contemplate what lies ahead at Ibrox until after domestic matters are taken care
He said: "I find it a bit more difficult now to look back on the previous games because there is only one thing in my head. Rangers? No, Go Ahead Eagles. There is really nothing in me other than this game. I don't find it difficult to be like that.
"How did I do that as a player? You played a match and then ticked it off. Then you evaluate, reflect, and move on to the next one. If you've been doing that for 20 years, that process is still there. Even if you are a coach. I don't just assume that we will dominate against Go Ahead. We have to enforce it. Go Ahead played a lot of good football against AZ in the last game.
"They played fresh football, put a lot of pressure and wanted to build up and play football. It's not guaranteed that this will be an easier game than the Monaco one in midweek."
Van Nistelrooy’s side has spent the last couple of days re-watching his side thrilling extra-time win over the Ligue 1 outfit. And he reckons there is plenty room for improvement as they prepare to take on Gers.
He said: "I have recovered from Tuesday. I didn't have to run much or do a lot of high-intensity metres. No, I've definitely recovered!
"I watched the match against Monaco again. What I thought at the time? I thought: 'Well, exciting match.'
"You then see some other things than along the line when you watch again. You have those images from above, then you can look back at everything and stop things.
"Then you definitely see other things. For example, you look at how you work in the construction of attacks. And how it came to be that we could not keep the ball for very long.
"The moment we did do that, we were immediately in the game. Those conditions were good, but the ball was not played well under pressure. However, I also realised that during the game."
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