Liverpool's Gakpo Situation: Potential £78m Attack Reshape

Liverpool’s American owners, FSG, have drawn a hard line over Cody Gakpo – and it could crack the door wide open for a £78m reshaping of their attack.

The Dutch forward, once a statement signing and briefly a symbol of a new-look frontline, now sits at the centre of one of the summer’s most delicate calls at Anfield. His form collapsed last season, just as Liverpool’s title defence did, and the fallout has already claimed one major figure: Arne Slot.

Gakpo on the market – if the price is right

Slot’s short, stuttering reign ended under a cloud of flat football and a fractured relationship with the fanbase. Gakpo was one of those who never truly caught fire under his compatriot. The numbers, the sharpness, the influence – all tailed off. For a club that prides itself on ruthless squad evolution, that kind of stagnation rarely goes unpunished.

Into that uncertainty have stepped Tottenham Hotspur, sensing an opportunity. Spurs have been alerted to the possibility of prising Gakpo out of Anfield and into north London, and journalist David Lynch believes there is a genuine chance Liverpool cash in if a serious offer lands.

Speaking on Anfield Index, Lynch admitted even he was taken aback by what he’d been told.

“I was really, really surprised, I’ll be honest, when I kind of had a conversation about this just before I went away,” he said. “I said, surely there’s no chance Gakpo’s on the way this summer, they’ve got so much to do already. The answer I got back was kind of ‘hmm, nah, we could sell him.’”

That response cut through the assumption that Gakpo would be granted a reset under new head coach Andoni Iraola. Instead of a guaranteed second chance, he now looks like a live asset on the market.

“I really didn’t expect that personally,” Lynch continued. “I thought Liverpool would just totally acknowledge that he’s got his flaws, but give him one more season, see where he’s up to and what they can get out of him from a new manager. But he very much seems to me to be up for a possible sale this summer.

“That’s not to say he’s guaranteed to go, but if an offer on the table comes in that is good enough, then Liverpool will 100 per cent accept it. I just didn’t expect that at all. So, one to definitely keep an eye on.”

The message from inside the club is clear: Gakpo is no fire sale, but he is no longer untouchable.

No transfer request – but a crossroads looms

Rumours in the Netherlands have suggested Gakpo is ready to push for an exit, worried that Iraola’s arrival will squeeze his minutes and his role. Lynch pushed back strongly on that narrative.

“One thing that was played down, this idea that he’s asked to leave, is nonsense,” he said.

For now, Gakpo’s attention is fixed on the World Cup. Once that campaign ends, the picture changes. Suitors will firm up interest, Liverpool will listen, and the forward himself will have to decide whether to fight for a place or seek a fresh start.

“At the moment, the player’s focus is on the World Cup as I understand it, but maybe when he comes back, there’s a real chance for him to go,” Lynch explained. “It does rely on people stumping up the money, but it seems there’s interest in him. So, if that happens, we could be saying goodbye to Gakpo.”

The 121-goal attacker is still a major name and a major investment. Any departure would have to reflect that.

And if he does go, Liverpool already have a dream replacement in mind.

Barcola: the £78m winger Liverpool have tracked

Liverpool’s recruitment plan this summer is layered. Yan Diomande is the headline target, the one FSG want above all. A deal for Victor Munoz has already been struck, adding another wide option. Yet the prospect of a third winger arriving is very much alive.

Bradley Barcola is the name that keeps coming back.

The PSG winger, valued at around €90m (£78m), has long been on Liverpool’s radar. With suggestions in France that the Ligue 1 champions could be tempted to cash in, the pieces of a blockbuster move are at least on the table.

“For me, that feels very feasible,” Lynch said of a Barcola pursuit. But he also laid out the chain reaction required to make it happen. “There are so many things that have to happen here. Gakpo has to go; the bid has to be right, and that probably happens after his World Cup campaign. Then Barcola will have to be in a position where PSG are willing to let him leave. He’s got to pick them [Liverpool].”

That last point matters. Arsenal have already been linked, and any club moving for Barcola would be walking into a fight for one of Europe’s most intriguing wide forwards.

“I’ve been reporting for a long time that Barcola’s a player of interest,” Lynch added. “Earlier in the summer, I felt that they want Diomande, if they can’t get him, then maybe the door is open to Barcola, but the fact that he’s someone that they do like, he can play on either side and centrally, though he primarily prefers the left, it does make sense that he’d be someone they’d pursue if they do lose Gakpo.

“If Gakpo goes, then he would need to be replaced. And I don’t think Diomande and Ngumoha are seen as replacements. I would watch that one, it feels like it’s not taking too huge a leap to say it’s a possibility to see Gakpo going and Barcola coming in.”

The fit is obvious. Barcola offers versatility across the front line, with a natural bias to the left – the very zone Gakpo has often drifted into. For a coach like Iraola, who demands intensity and vertical threat from his wide players, the Frenchman would tick a lot of boxes.

Fabrizio Romano has already claimed Barcola is a player Iraola “loves”, and highlighted a detail in the winger’s contract that could yet work in Liverpool’s favour. The admiration is not in doubt. The question is whether the finances and timing align.

Diomande priority, but pressure building

Through all of this, one reality underpins Liverpool’s summer: Diomande remains the number one target. Everything else sits around that pursuit.

Talks with RB Leipzig have dragged, and the player’s camp is understood to be growing frustrated as they wait for Liverpool to finally strike an agreement. The sense is that a record-breaking deal could be wrapped up quickly – “in one or two days” – if Liverpool and Leipzig can just find common ground on the fee.

Until that happens, the rest of the attacking puzzle stays slightly blurred. Gakpo’s future, Barcola’s availability, the knock-on impact on Iraola’s shape and selections – all of it hangs on FSG’s willingness to commit heavily again.

Liverpool have already made one big decision this summer by sacking Slot and backing Iraola. The next could reshape their forward line: hold their nerve with Gakpo, or cash in and chase Barcola at £78m.