Cody Gakpo's Transformation: From Transfer Target to Liverpool's Key Player
Liverpool’s summer stance on Cody Gakpo has flipped from sale opportunity to central pillar.
For weeks, the Dutch forward looked destined to leave Anfield. Fresh from an impressive World Cup with the Netherlands and a sharp start to the 2026/27 season, he drew serious interest from Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. Inside Liverpool, he was viewed as one of the few high-value assets who could go if the price and circumstances aligned.
They did. Almost.
City moved hard in the final days of the window, hunting a replacement for Savio. Both City and Spurs, according to Dutch outlet Dagblad, were ready to meet a package worth around €100m – the financial framework Liverpool had set to even consider a sale. Gakpo chose City. The numbers were in place. The path looked clear.
Then Liverpool shut the door.
Dagblad reported that Gakpo met with the club’s owners on Tuesday, “partly to clear the air” after the collapse of the move. What emerged from that failed transfer is now shaping the rest of Liverpool’s season.
From expendable to essential
Football Insider’s Pete O’Rourke reports that Gakpo is now expected to play a “key” role for Liverpool across the campaign. The club did not bring in a replacement, and that decision has underlined how quickly internal thinking has hardened around the Dutchman.
“Gakpo will be a key player for Liverpool this season, definitely,” O’Rourke said, pointing to the winger’s early-season output: a goal against Newcastle on the opening weekend, followed by a smart assist against Nottingham Forest.
Those contributions have reinforced what Liverpool already knew. Gakpo can operate across the front line, drop into pockets, link play, and still carry a goal threat. That versatility, O’Rourke claims, became the decisive factor when the club weighed up City’s offer against the realities of a long season.
Liverpool had seriously considered the bid. “They obviously considered Man City’s offer, they were willing to pay top dollar for Cody Gakpo,” O’Rourke noted. But when the moment of truth arrived, the football argument beat the financial one.
Iraola’s call
The decision also shone a light on Andoni Iraola’s influence. The new Liverpool head coach did not want to lose Gakpo, and the club ultimately backed his view.
“That just shows that Andoni Iraola did not want to lose the Dutchman, because he knows that he will play a key role for his side this season in any success they do have,” O’Rourke said.
So the player who had one foot out of the door now finds himself central to Iraola’s plans, with a manager who clearly trusts him and a club that chose his on-pitch impact over a nine-figure fee.
The transfer saga is over. The new plan is simple: Cody Gakpo stays, and Liverpool’s season may end up being defined by what he does with that second chance.
