Cody Gakpo's Role at Liverpool: From Transfer Target to Key Player
Liverpool’s summer with Cody Gakpo was supposed to end with a handshake and a record fee. Instead, it has flipped into something very different: a renewed commitment and a central role in Andoni Iraola’s first season at Anfield.
For weeks, Gakpo’s name sat near the top of the transfer agenda. His World Cup form with the Netherlands, followed by a sharp start to the 2026/27 campaign, only hardened the sense that he was a premium asset in a market short on high‑end attackers. Inside Liverpool, he was quietly placed in the bracket of players who could be sold if the numbers were right.
The numbers were right.
Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur both signalled they were ready to meet a package of around €100m. City then accelerated, targeting Gakpo in the final days of the window as a direct answer to Savio’s departure. Financial terms were agreed. The path looked clear. Gakpo chose City.
Then Liverpool pulled the plug.
According to Dutch outlet Dagblad, the collapse of the move stunned those close to the deal. The framework was in place, the valuation met, the destination chosen. Yet, as the deadline loomed, Liverpool informed all parties that Gakpo would not be leaving for City – and that no alternative exit would be sanctioned either. The door that had been propped open all summer was suddenly slammed shut.
Earlier this week, Gakpo met the club’s owners, in part to “clear the air” after the failed transfer. A conversation that might once have been about farewell plans turned into something else: how he fits into Liverpool’s immediate future.
That future, according to Football Insider’s Pete O’Rourke, is no longer as a saleable asset but as a pillar of Iraola’s project.
“Gakpo will be a key player for Liverpool this season, definitely,” O’Rourke said, pointing to the winger’s impact in the opening weeks – a goal against Newcastle on the first weekend, a smart assist against Nottingham Forest soon after. Those early contributions have underlined why Liverpool hesitated when the reality of losing him came into focus.
The club did not bring in a like-for-like replacement. That matters. It tells you this was not a pre-planned rebuild, but a strategic U-turn driven by footballing needs as much as finance. Once Liverpool stared at the prospect of a long season without Gakpo, the equation changed.
His versatility tipped the scales.
Gakpo can operate wide, drift inside, link play, or attack the box as a central forward. In a squad adapting to Iraola’s demands, that flexibility is gold. O’Rourke stressed that point: Liverpool “didn’t really want to lose” a player who can plug several gaps and still offer end product in the final third.
Manchester City were willing to “pay top dollar” for that profile. Liverpool listened. They considered. Then they said no.
The decision, as O’Rourke framed it, underlines Iraola’s stance. The new head coach did not want to lose the Dutchman. Not in his first season. Not when he expects Gakpo to be central to any success Liverpool can carve out in a league where margins are thinner than ever.
So the winger who was almost Manchester City’s next big attacking signing now finds himself recast at Anfield: not as a luxury to cash in on, but as a cornerstone. The transfer saga is over. The real question now is whether Cody Gakpo can turn Liverpool’s late change of heart into the season that defines his status at the club.
