Liverpool owners FSG have made a firm decision over the future of winger Cody Gakpo, and with Tottenham Hotspur learning their chances of a big-money raid on Anfield, a journalist has named the dream £78m-rated replacement the Reds could bring in.
Gakpo’s form, like so many of his Liverpool teammates, dropped off a cliff across the 2025/26 campaign as the Merseysiders put up a meek defence of their Premier League title.
That ultimately cost Arne Slot his job, though the pedestrian football and the fact that the Dutchman had lost the fans also proved significant in FSG’s decision to axe him and bring in Andoni Iraola as his replacement.
With Gakpo himself coming in for widespread criticism from the Reds fanbase, speculation has risen in recent weeks that the winger could be sold by Liverpool this summer, while those rumours have been further fuelled by strong reports in his homeland that the winger is ready to ask to leave Anfield, fearing reduced minutes under the club’s new regime.
That has alerted Tottenham to the possibility of luring the 121-goal winger to north London, and now journalist David Lynch has revealed there is a real chance that FSG look to move Gakpo on this summer.
“I was really, really surprised, I’ll be honest, when I kind of had a conversation about this just before I went away,” Lynch told Anfield Index.
“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.’ I really didn’t expect that personally, 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.”
Lynch did, however, play down speculation that Gakpo has asked to leave, though did share the £78m-rated star the Reds could feasibly try and sign as his replacement…
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Why Liverpool want to replace Gakpo with Bradley Barcola
In dismissing claims that Gakpo will try and force through his departure, Lynch continued: “One thing that was played down, this idea that he’s asked to leave, is nonsense.
“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. 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.”
While Liverpool’s main focus is Yan Diomande, the prospects of them signing a third winger this summer (after a deal for Victor Munoz was struck last week) cannot be discounted.
And he admits the Reds will be paying close attention to developments over Bradley Barcola’s situation at PSG, amid suggestions they could cash in on the France winger for a fee of €90m (£78m, $103m).
“For me, that feels very feasible,” he said. “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].”
He added: “Arsenal have been linked previously, there’ll be competition. But I’ve been reporting for a long time that Barcola’s a player of interest.
“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,” Lynch added. “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.”
Fabrizio Romano recently declared that Barcola is a player that Iraola “loves”, while admitting a crucial detail on his contract that could play into Liverpool’s hands.
Despite that, there is no doubting that FSG’s number one priority is securing the signing of Diomande.
With regard to that, a journalist has shared the frustrations that are building within the player’s camp as they wait for Liverpool to strike a deal with RB Leipzig and amid a claim that a record-breaking agreement could be done in ‘one or two days’.
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