Liverpool will take on Man City this weekend, with Enzo Maresca's side coming off the back of a major summer spending spree that could have seen Cody Gakpo move to the Etihad
Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak during Bournemouth vs Liverpool.
Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak during Bournemouth vs Liverpool.(Image: Jacques Feeney/Offside via Getty Images)
Liverpool legend John Aldridge says Cody Gakpo "dodged a bullet" this summer when a transfer move to Manchester City didn't materialize.
Gakpo, who has started the season in good form under Andoni Iraola, was someone that Enzo Maresca considered to bolster his forward options. But even when Bradley Barcola arrived from PSG, it was determined that the Dutchman would be useful at Anfield, where the number of attackers available is limited.
Nonetheless, after Manchester City was found guilty of the majority of the 115 charges that had been leveled at it by the Premier League, Aldridge says Gakpo will be glad that it never happened.
"Gakpo could have easily joined Man City in the summer," Aldridge wrote in his Liverpool ECHO column.
"We don’t know what they were telling all these players they were after, but it looks like he has dodged a bullet, hasn’t he?
"All the City players’ agents now will be licking their lips. Because if City do go down, Erling Haaland won’t be playing in the lower divisions.
Liverpool legend John Aldridge.
Liverpool legend John Aldridge.(Image: PETER POWELL / AFP via Getty Images)
"Will these players they’ve got, all world-class players, want to drop down and play there? Or will they move to Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG — get the same money as they get at City and go to a bigger club?
"That's what the agents will be telling them, because they get more money by moving them on. It’s more money by moving them on than giving them new contracts. So, the agents will be licking their lips looking at the situation if it arises.
"If they have to sell, Haaland’s the first one you’d want. I’d love him at Liverpool. Everyone will want him.
"They’ve got some great players. If it comes to it, a lot of quality players will be pushing for transfers. But we’ve all just got to wait until that situation arises and watch it develop."
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Liverpool hosts Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday in the first match that the latter will face since the guilty verdict was confirmed. Maresca's men have won all five league games that it has played so far this season.
Liverpool.com says: Keeping Gakpo was a no-brainer for the Reds but one of the many interesting aspects of the verdict is what the current Manchester City players think.
Someone like Elliot Anderson, for instance, only arrived in the summer just gone. While he wasn't even at the club during the period of wrongdoing, he will be among those to feel the repercussions.