Kwesi Appiah attempted to convince PSV star Cody Gakpo to switch nationalities during his tenure as Balck Stars coach.
Gakpo was born in Eindhoven and raised in the district of Stratum. His father was born in Togo and has Ghanaian ancestry, while his mother is Dutch
A PSV academy graduate, Gakpo made his first-team debut for the club in February 2018. In the 2021–22 season, he won the Dutch Footballer of the Year award after scoring 21 goals in 47 games in all competitions.
Gakpo played youth international football for the Netherlands from under-18 to under-21 level. He made his senior international debut in June 2021 at Euro 2020.
During his second stint as Black Stars coach, Kwesi Appiah embarked on a scouting mission and stopped in Holland. According to reports, he met Cody Gakpo, Ajax attacker Brian Brobbey, and Monaco striker Myron Boadu.
"I have been visiting the players. I have been to Holland and Belgium. I have spotted about four to five players. I have seen them play a lot of times but I needed to see them and talk to them in person," he told Modern Africa.
"Out of the five I have spoken to from Holland they are all willing to play for the Black Stars but there are some of them who have played for the junior national teams of Holland so we will have to do a nationality switch for them,"