Liverpool’s summer transfer window closed with unfinished business surrounding one of the club’s key attacking options.
Cody Gakpo spent the summer the centre of intense transfer speculation, with his future far from certain.
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Manchester City had agreed a fee of around £80 million for the Dutch international and the move looked set to go through before it collapsed late in the window, catching many by surprise.
Liverpool ownership, Fenway Sports Group, then held what has been described as “clear-the-air talks” with Gakpo following the breakdown of the deal.
The conversations were aimed at explaining the club’s decision to block the sale.
Gakpo will now stay at Anfield until at least January.
Speaking ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League trip to Ipswich Town, Andoni Iraola addressed the situation directly. Liverpool travel to Portman Road on Friday for an 8pm kick-off.
“My relationship with Cody has been very honest from the beginning,” Iraola said.
“He has played very well for us so far. He was always aware of the situation in the market, we were constantly talking, I hope we can keep him at the same level. He is in a good place physically and mentally and I’m very happy to pick him.”
Cody Gakpo is expected to keep his starting spot against Ipswich despite Liverpool’s £123 million signing of Bradley Barcola being confirmed on Monday.
Barcola has not featured competitively since the World Cup third-place playoff against England on 18 July and is unlikely to start, despite Iraola confirming the former PSG man is fit.
Both players operate primarily on the left, leaving Iraola with a selection dilemma.
Liverpool have not signed a direct replacement for Mohamed Salah, meaning one of their attackers may need to play out of position for the time being.
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