Cody Gakpo's World Cup Impact and Future at Liverpool

Cody Gakpo walked off the pitch with two more World Cup goals to his name and a question hanging in the air.

How does the Netherlands’ sharp, liberated left-sided threat fit into a Liverpool attack that is being rebuilt around him – or possibly beyond him?

“It’s a little bit different,” he said when asked about his role for country compared with club. “It’s different where the coach wants me to be, the freedom that I have.” Then he stopped himself. The sentence – and the thought – went unfinished.

The contrast is becoming harder to ignore.

A World Cup reminder

Against Sweden, Gakpo looked like the player Liverpool thought they had secured in December 2022. His first goal was all about timing, arriving at the back post to tuck away a simple finish. The second was pure Gakpo: cutting in from the left, opening his body and drilling a right-footed shot into the corner.

Five goals in seven World Cup matches across two tournaments. Twenty-three in 52 caps for the Netherlands since his debut five years ago. These are not the numbers of a squad player. They are the numbers of a man who expects to shape games.

Inside the Dutch camp, he does more than that. Team-mate Crysencio Summerville calls him “our pastor” for the way he leads prayers and supports fellow Christians in the squad. On the pitch, Virgil van Dijk’s verdict after the 5-1 win over Sweden was blunt and glowing.

“He is an outstanding footballer,” said the Netherlands and Liverpool captain. “He works so hard for the team, he’s disciplined and his quality stands out – his crosses, his assists, his goals.”

The World Cup is reminding everyone of Gakpo’s ceiling. Back at Anfield, the picture is more complicated.

From title spearhead to tactical puzzle

Under Arne Slot in 2024-25, Gakpo’s first full season in a settled Liverpool structure delivered exactly what the club hoped for. Eighteen goals, seven assists, 49 appearances in all competitions, and a central role in a title-winning campaign.

That form earned him a long-term contract last summer, a deal he was said to be delighted to sign. Liverpool had their left-sided forward for the next phase.

Then came last season.

Three more matches, but the output dropped to nine goals and six assists. He was far from alone in underperforming during a difficult campaign, yet the numbers tell him what he already knows: they must rise again if he is to be the attacking reference point in a new era.

The left flank remains his preferred territory, but 2025-26 exposed the rough edges in his partnership with Milos Kerkez. Too often, Kerkez’s aggressive overlapping runs went unused or under-served. Their chemistry improved as the season wore on, yet it never quite became the automatic, devastating connection Liverpool needed.

Now Kerkez is back under Andoni Iraola, the coach who helped unlock him at Bournemouth. The expectation is clear: the Hungary international must accelerate his development. If he does, that understanding with Gakpo could finally blossom into something more dangerous.

For Gakpo, that might be the most encouraging tactical development on offer.

New faces, old questions

Encouraging, but not uncomplicated.

Liverpool have just paid £34.5m to bring in Victor Munoz from Osasuna, another winger who naturally operates off the left. They are also pushing hard for Yan Diomande, the highly rated 19-year-old RB Leipzig forward who can play on either flank, with a package worth £86m under discussion.

Both players can step into zones Gakpo likes to call home.

At the same time, Florian Wirtz – who Liverpool used off the left at times last season and who is featuring there for Germany at this World Cup – hovers as another variable. How Iraola sees Wirtz’s best position could be decisive. If the new head coach imagines the German as a long-term left-sided creator, the squeeze on Gakpo tightens. If Wirtz is moved centrally or to the right, a lane reopens.

There is also the internal push. Talented teenager Rio Ngumoha is expected to take a more prominent role, a reminder that the pathway from academy to first team is very much alive.

Liverpool, though, still see Gakpo as a proven Premier League attacker who can be used in multiple ways. With Hugo Ekitike potentially sidelined until 2027 after a ruptured Achilles, Gakpo’s ability to operate through the middle offers Iraola valuable flexibility as he retools a misfiring front line.

The departure of Mohamed Salah has already guaranteed at least one more attacking signing this summer. The chase for Diomande is intensifying. The jigsaw is growing more crowded, not less.

A proven scorer with a price tag

Strip away the noise and one fact stands out: Gakpo scores goals for Liverpool.

Fifty in 180 appearances, making him only the second Dutchman after Dirk Kuyt to reach a half-century for the club. When fit, he has usually been first choice. That status is now under more pressure than at any point since he arrived from PSV Eindhoven.

For the first time since that 2022 move, a departure cannot be dismissed out of hand. Several clubs are monitoring his situation, with Tottenham Hotspur among those keeping an eye on developments.

Liverpool would not let him go cheaply. Any transfer is expected to start north of £60m, a significant profit on the initial £35m they paid PSV after the last World Cup. In a market where proven attacking output is both scarce and expensive, Gakpo is a valuable asset as much as he is a tactical piece.

That dual identity – cornerstone or capital – is exactly what makes his future so intriguing.

The Iraola equation

Iraola and Liverpool’s recruitment team are not just adding names. They are reshaping an attack that laboured for long stretches last season and never fully settled after Salah’s influence began to wane.

New signings rarely hit the ground running at Anfield. The early struggles of Alexander Isak and Wirtz in their debut campaigns are a fresh reminder of how steep the adaptation curve can be. Gakpo has already climbed that hill. He knows the league, the club, the expectations.

In that sense, added competition might bring out his best. It did when Luis Diaz was at his most explosive, pushing standards and minutes to the edge. Gakpo responded back then. Liverpool may be betting he will do so again.

Or they might decide that this is the moment to cash in on a player whose World Cup form is driving his stock back up, trusting that Munoz, Diomande, Wirtz and Ngumoha can carry the load over time.

For now, Gakpo’s attention is locked on the Netherlands, on another deep World Cup run, on the prayers he leads and the goals he scores. Every sharp cut inside, every clean finish, sends the same message back to Merseyside.

Liverpool know exactly what he can be.

The real question this summer is whether they still want to build around that version of Cody Gakpo – or risk watching him become that player somewhere else.