Liverpool star Cody Gakpo has been accused of being a neglectful absentee landlord by residents living in a string of properties owned by the Dutch ace.
Gakpo has invested a huge slice of his £130,000-a-week Anfield wages to build a substantial real estate portfolio in five different cities in the south of Holland, through his company Samaritan. But angry occupants have complained that some of their homes are “not fit for human habitation”, with structural problems, vermin infestations and poor repairs a consistent theme of their grievances.
That’s despite the letting agent, who acts on Gakpo’s behalf, charging high rents of up to €875 a month (£754) for one damp basement flat riddled with mould, and €850 a month (£733) for another apartment so cramped that tenants have to walk sideways to squeeze to the front door. The average rent per month in this area is €560 (£500).
The 24-year-old Gakpo is listed as the sole shareholder of Samaritan, which owns properties in the cities of Rotterdam, Dordrecht, Roermond, Weert and Geleen. Liverpool FC declined the opportunity to comment on what the club feels is a personal business matter for Gakpo.
The Reds forward has scored 21 goals in 74 appearances for Liverpool since moving to Anfield from PSV Eindhoven in a £40million deal in January 2023. Gakpo had also attracted strong interest from Manchester United. The Dutchman will be in manager Jurgen Klopp’s squad for the trip to Fulham on Sunday as the Reds look to rekindle a season which last month saw them eliminated from the FA Cup – and in recent weeks dumped out of the Europa League and knocked off the top of the Premier League.
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Residents of the properties have complained about their condition (Jeroen Kuit)Gakpo is a devout Christian and leads a Bible group in Holland’s squad that conducts prayer meetings before every international game. But he is facing a storm of criticism in his homeland after damning claims were made concerning his property empire by the regional newspaper De Limburger.
It was reported that Gakpo uses the services of Stefan Stals, an employee of finance company Elevate Finance, who is tasked to deal with tenants’ issues and collect rents. Stals dismissed suggestions that there is an issue with rats and insisted that all maintenance issues with the properties have been dealt with promptly.
But he did admit that he had only checked the condition of four of the 11 flats that Gakpo owns in Roermond. And he also conceded that there had in fact been an infestation of mice.
Vermin has been discovered in some of the flats (Jeroen Kuit)Stals said: “There was nuisance from mice. We had those exterminated. The maintenance condition of the property is good.”
However, photographs taken by De Limburger seem to show some evidence of serious neglect in a number of the apartment buildings, with dead mice left to decay on dirty stairwells, mouldy walls, loose cables and holes in plasterwork. Resident Ricardo Silva pointed to a gap in his ceiling and claimed: “A rat fell down through there into my living room. It scared me to death.
“I saw it running. It was a rat with a long tail. It was definitely not a mouse.” Another, Dewi Kouwenberg, added: “You see the gnaw marks on my sofa here? I don’t actually dare to be here.”
Gakpo uses a finance company to help manage the flats (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)Legal letters sent to Elevate Finance pleading to improve the condition of homes have so far elicited no response. That’s despite some residents now refusing to store foods in cupboards because of the lack of effective pest control.
Gakpo’s football agent Kees Ploegsma has declined to comment on the row, insisting responsibility for the upkeep of the property portfolio lies with the management company acting on the player’s behalf.
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