“It ended how it ended,” was Cody Gakpo’s reflection on a summer that saw him come close to leaving Liverpool for Manchester City.
Gakpo seemed like he would become the fall guy at Liverpool, with the club willing to sell him as they set about recruiting for a new era in the wake of Mohamed Salah’s exit. Tottenham Hotspur were interested but it was City that put forward a proposal worth a reported £80 million ($106 million), only to find Liverpool reconsidering an earlier willingness to sell amid difficulties trying to recruit Yankuba Minteh or Ismaïla Sarr.
Gakpo already had a goal and assist from his first two Premier League appearances of the season by that point. He stayed and has added another goal and three more assists across all competitions since. The Dutchman also scored his country’s late UEFA Nations League equalizer against Germany on Friday. He had spoken to reporters in the buildup to the match.
Gakpo told The Times it “doesn’t make any sense” to revisit what happened in the summer. On a personal level, he and his wife, Noa van der Bij, also suffered the tragedy of losing their unborn son during pregnancy. Doing his job has been something to focus on.
“It was a difficult summer for me and my family, and everything surrounding football and life,” the winger reflected. “I just let it come and it ended how it ended. I cannot choose. So then I have to just try to do what I’m good at, and that’s playing football. I can be very worried about everything that could happen, or that didn’t happen, or whatever, but that wouldn’t help the situation.
“It’s a very long story. The summer was very tough regarding everything. So I just let everything be and see how it came and it worked out in this way.
“Some things are out of our hands, and we have to do the things we can control to the best of our ability. That’s the only thing I can do. I just want to enjoy my life with my family and friends, and my life playing football with my teammates [with the Netherlands] and at the club.”
It’s a very mature and level-headed way of looking at things. Gakpo also said that he understood criticism off the back of 2025–26 comes with the territory of being a Liverpool player and that he knew he “could do much better” than during that campaign.
Gakpo Becomes Unexpected Salah Replacement
One thing that has been clear in the early weeks of the new season is that manager Andoni Iraola is being forced to figure out on the job what his best forward line is.
The status of Alexander Isak as the starting No. 9 is not in question. The Swede has four Premier League goals from five appearances this season, already better than his tally from the whole of 2025–26. That Huo Ekitiké is still recovering from a long-term Achilles injury only strengthens Isak’s grip on the position. But the right wing has been a different matter.
Iraola used three different players on that side across the opening four matches against Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Ipswich Town and Atlético Madrid—Rio Ngumoha, Gakpo, Víctor Muñoz, Bradley Barcola respectively.
Iraola seemed hopeful that Muñoz might be the solution, until he struggled to make an impact in successive Premier League starts against Ipswich and Fulham. Gakpo replaced the Spaniard against Fulham and kept the place against Bournemouth just prior to the international break.
Gakpo has been the best fit and most influential in the position so far and it could be enough to get an extended run of starts on the side of the pitch that was locked down by Salah for nine years. The other side of that coin is that his usual position on the left now belongs to Barcola, bought for a near club-record fee from Paris Saint-Germain.
Barcola was lacking match fitness when he first arrived, having been left out of PSG selections by Luis Enrique until his future was finalized. The Frenchman was given the opportunity to come off the bench for his debut against Ipswich at the beginning of September but has started all three of the games Liverpool have played in the Premier League and Champions League since.
There is no reason for Iraola to not keep picking Gakpo for the right, but it’s quickly becoming clear that might also be his only realistic opportunity to remain a starter this season.
