Gakpo’s Future at Liverpool: Transfer Rumors and Potential Replacement
Liverpool’s title defence collapsed. Now one of its most high‑profile forwards might be swept away in the reset.
Gakpo’s Anfield future on the line
Cody Gakpo arrived at Liverpool as a statement signing, a goalscoring wide forward with the pedigree and numbers to match the club’s ambitions. A 121-goal winger in his career so far, he was supposed to be part of the next great Anfield front line.
Instead, like so many of his teammates, his 2025/26 season fell off a cliff.
Liverpool’s meek attempt to defend their Premier League crown dragged everyone down. Performances turned flat, the football under Arne Slot grew increasingly pedestrian, and the atmosphere around Anfield soured. By the time FSG moved to sack Slot and appoint Andoni Iraola, the fanbase had long since turned.
Gakpo became one of the lightning rods for frustration. Criticism grew louder, questions about his role and output more pointed. The result is a situation that would have seemed unlikely not long ago: Liverpool are now genuinely open to selling him.
Journalist David Lynch, speaking on Anfield Index, laid out the shift in thinking at the club.
He admitted he had expected Liverpool to hold their nerve with Gakpo, to let a new manager assess him over another season. Instead, the feedback he received from within the club was blunt: if the right bid lands on the table, Liverpool will “100 per cent” accept it.
No guarantees, no fire sale. But a clear willingness to listen.
That stance has not gone unnoticed.
Tottenham circle as Liverpool soften stance
Tottenham Hotspur have already been alerted to the possibility of prising Gakpo away from Anfield. For a club chasing more firepower in wide areas and hunting for a high-ceiling attacker, a 121-goal winger whose stock has dipped represents both risk and opportunity.
Reports in the Netherlands have suggested Gakpo fears reduced minutes under Iraola and could be ready to ask to leave. Lynch, though, pushed back on that specific claim. He described the idea that Gakpo has already requested a transfer as “nonsense”.
Right now, the player’s attention is on the World Cup. The real decisions, on both sides, will come after that.
Still, the outlines of a potential move are already visible. There is interest in Gakpo. Liverpool are open to cashing in if a serious offer arrives. Tottenham are watching. The market will do the rest.
And if Gakpo does go, Liverpool already have a dream replacement in mind.
Barcola: the £78m winger on Liverpool’s radar
Liverpool’s summer priority remains clear: Yan Diomande is at the top of FSG’s list. A deal for Victor Munoz has already been completed, and there is another winger, Ngumoha, in the wider picture. Yet none of those names are seen as a like-for-like answer if Gakpo departs.
That is where Bradley Barcola comes in.
The PSG and France winger, rated at around €90m (£78m), has long been on Liverpool’s radar. Lynch has been reporting for some time that Barcola is a player of genuine interest at Anfield, and the club are keeping a close eye on developments in Paris, where there is growing noise that PSG could be prepared to cash in.
From Liverpool’s perspective, the fit is obvious. Barcola can operate on either flank and through the middle, though he prefers the left – precisely the territory Gakpo currently occupies. He offers versatility, dynamism, and the kind of profile that suits Iraola’s aggressive, high-tempo style.
Lynch believes a move is “very feasible”, but only if a complex chain of events falls into place.
First, Gakpo has to go, and for a fee that justifies breaking open the budget. That scenario likely unfolds after his World Cup campaign, when any strong performances could nudge his price back up. Then PSG must be ready to sell Barcola. On top of that, Barcola himself has to choose Liverpool amid serious competition – Arsenal have been linked and others are expected to circle.
The interest, though, is real. Fabrizio Romano has already stated that Iraola “loves” Barcola, and a contractual detail at PSG could work in Liverpool’s favour if the French club decide to reshape their squad.
If Gakpo leaves, Liverpool will not treat Diomande or Ngumoha as his direct successor. They will need a headline attacking addition. Barcola fits that billing.
A decisive summer for FSG
Behind all of this sits a wider tension. FSG’s number one objective is still to land Diomande from RB Leipzig, yet negotiations have dragged and frustration is reportedly growing in the player’s camp as they wait for Liverpool to strike an agreement. Talk of a record-breaking deal being completed in “one or two days” only underlines how close – and yet how complicated – that saga has become.
Against that backdrop, the Gakpo question becomes even more significant. Sell him, and Liverpool suddenly have the funds and the need to move for Barcola. Keep him, and the club may decide that two new wide forwards – after Munoz – would be a luxury too far.
One thing is clear: the safety nets have gone. The title defence is over, Slot has gone, and sentiment around underperforming stars has evaporated.
Liverpool are ready to make hard decisions. Whether Gakpo survives this reset, or makes way for Barcola and a new-look attack under Iraola, will say plenty about how ruthless this new era is prepared to be.
