Cody Gakpo's Future: Liverpool Faces Spurs' £70 Million Offer
Liverpool find themselves at a crossroads with Cody Gakpo. Tottenham are circling, a sizeable offer is being lined up, and the numbers on the table would test the resolve of almost any club.
Spurs are understood to be exploring a deal that could climb towards £70 million, a fee that would hand Liverpool a hefty profit on a player signed for under £45m when he arrived from PSV. For a forward whose Anfield career has flickered rather than fully ignited, that kind of margin sharpens minds.
Gakpo is no longer a project. At 27, he is a seasoned Premier League attacker, a player who tore through Eredivisie defences at PSV and showed he could score in bunches. He can work off either flank, he can lead the line, he can drop into pockets and link play. On paper, he is the modern, multi-functional forward every elite club wants.
On grass, at Liverpool, it has been more complicated.
Owen’s blunt verdict
Michael Owen, never one to sugar-coat, has voiced what many around Anfield have quietly wondered. Asked whether Liverpool should entertain offers given Gakpo’s erratic form, the former Reds striker delivered a stinging assessment.
“He was consistent last year, but consistently poor,” Owen told GOAL. “He had a good opening 10 games or something, but then for the rest of the season, he was pretty poor.”
It was not just Gakpo who underwhelmed, Owen stressed, but he did not spare the Dutchman. “It was a concern, his performances last season, although it was a concern a lot of their performances. It was a poor season.”
That is the heart of Liverpool’s dilemma. The player has already shown he can be “very effective” in this team, as Owen pointed out, but the dip has been stark enough to prompt serious internal debate. How long do you wait for the version of Gakpo that dazzled at PSV and for his country to become the weekly norm in the Premier League?
Risk and reward in the market
Tottenham are ready to find out. Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has reported that Spurs are in direct talks with Gakpo’s camp over a possible move this summer. Any deal will hinge on the financial package and, crucially, on Liverpool’s ability to bring in reinforcements.
That last part is key. Liverpool are already light in wide areas. Owen framed the risk in blunt terms: “If they lose him, they're already desperate for wide men. If they lose him, are you going into the season relying on Rio Ngumoha? If you've got a replacement, then I can see it.”
That is the calculation for Andoni Iraola and the recruitment team. Cashing in now could fund a reset of the forward line, but it also rips out a versatile attacker from a squad that is hardly overflowing with them. Liverpool have been strongly linked with France international Bradley Barcola, with the Paris Saint-Germain forward believed to be edging towards the exit. At 23 and already a Champions League winner, Barcola would tick the age, pedigree and upside boxes that have underpinned much of Liverpool’s recent business.
If a move for Barcola or a similar-profile signing can be lined up, Gakpo becomes a potential asset to trade. If not, letting him go starts to look like a gamble for a club aiming to compete on multiple fronts.
For now, Owen sees the situation as finely poised. “It could happen,” he admitted. “At the moment, I think they're looking at adding, I'm not sure they're thinking of getting rid of too many players. His season last year was not very good. However, he has proven over time that he is very good. That's an up in the air one.”
Club role vs country role
Gakpo himself sits at the centre of it all, weighing up not just his club future but what it means for his standing with the Netherlands. He looked sharp again on the international stage at the 2026 World Cup, reminding everyone of the player who burst onto the global scene in orange.
Asked why he seems more consistent for the national team than for Liverpool, the Eindhoven-born forward offered a simple explanation: “It’s a little bit different. How I play here, where the coach wants me to be, the freedom that I have at the club. That’s it basically.”
That line will not be lost on any club watching. System, role, and freedom matter. At PSV and with the Netherlands, Gakpo has often been the focal point, the man attacks are built around. At Liverpool, he has been one piece in a crowded puzzle, shuttling between positions and instructions as managers search for the right blend.
Tottenham, under their current project, can sell him a different vision: a leading role in a side being reshaped, a chance to be one of the main attacking pillars rather than a rotating part.
A decision with consequences
Liverpool now face a classic modern dilemma: hold their nerve and back the talent they believed in when they struck a cut-price deal from PSV, or move on at the peak of his market value and trust themselves to find – and bed in – the next piece.
Spurs are ready to test just how much faith remains. The money is tempting. The squad picture is complicated. And somewhere between those two truths, Cody Gakpo’s next move will say a lot about how bold Liverpool are prepared to be in reshaping their attack.
