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Gakpo hands out food to children in Togo as he takes time off before pre-season

  /  autty

Liverpool star Cody Gakpo was filmed handing out meals to children whilst visiting his father's home country of Togo.

In a video posted to TikTok, the 24-year-old is seen handing bowlfuls of food to a group of waiting youngsters less than a week after competing with the Netherlands in the Nations League.

Gakpo's side sealed fourth place in the competition after losing 2-3 to Italy in the third-place play-off fixture.

As per ESPN, Gakpo's choice of post-season destination is guided by his desire to give back to Togo, with the player believed to be investigating the possibility of setting up a charitable project in the country.

Gakpo has strong ties to his Togolese heritage and the family he has who are still based in the west African nation, but when he was approached by Togo's football association four years ago a switch in international allegiances, the former PSV player was steadfast in his decision to turn out for the Dutch national team - who he has featured for since U18 level.

Since 2022, Gakpo has been a valuable presence for the Oranje, his three goals in the group stages of December's Qatar World Cup all but sealing his subsequent Premier League move.

Gakpo has two weeks left of his off-season before he reports back to Liverpool for pre-season training, and the unofficial start of the Reds' 2023-24 campaign.

The player is yet to have had a pre-season under manager Jurgen Klopp, having joined the Merseyside team in January 2023, and will be keen to build upon his bright opening six months for the fifth-placed side.

In his 21 starts under Klopp, Gakpo has scored seven times, and contributed three more assists.

Despite an uneven showing for large chunks of the season, Liverpool finished on a tear to secure European competition next term.

The club will compete in the Europa League for the first time since 2016, when they lost the final of the tournament to competition big-beasts Sevilla.