Liverpool's stance on an exit for Cody Gakpo has been revealed by Fabrizio Romano on GIVEMESPORT's Market Madness podcast, as Manchester City advance in talks for the Tottenham Hotspur target.
Gakpo could be on his way out of Liverpool this summer, with Andoni Iraola interested in further freshening up his attacking line amid the imminent arrival of Paris Saint-Germain superstar Bradley Barcola.
But Barcola's arrival will have no influence over Gakpo, given he is effectively replacing Mo Salah, so Liverpool would have to find another new attacker to replace the Dutchman before he can be allowed to leave. Tottenham have already signed Savinho and Omar Marmoush to strengthen their attack, but despite a club-record transfer window in terms of spending, they could add another attacker, although it will likely depend on the exit of a forward like Richarlison.
As for City, they have, of course, lost Savinho and Marmoush, albeit the latter is only at Spurs on loan, so Enzo Maresca needs more attacking options this summer. Gakpo has been identified as a possible target.
Writing about the situation on X, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano posted: "Cody Gakpo’s future will be decided after today’s game with key meetings set to take place. Manchester City still heavily involved in talks to sign the Dutch winger, Tottenham there since July. But Liverpool will only sell Cody if they can get a top replacement."
Those comments come after Romano had said the following on GIVEMESPORT's Market Madness podcast:
"So in case of exit for Cody Gakpo in these final days of the window, Liverpool are still considering the possibility to add one more winger. So Gakpo only leaves if one more winger joins. That's always been the situation."
Liverpool are preparing to spend as much as £120million including £17million of add-ons for Barcola, and it's likely they would spend upwards of £70million to properly replace Gakpo, but they are likely to make that kind of money on the Dutchman in any case.
Gakpo's Premier League stats 2025/26
Appearances: 36
Goals: 7
Assists: 5
Pass success: 78.5%
Key passes: 1.5 per game
Shots: 2.4 per game
Man City hold the advantage
Spurs likely need to make room for Gakpo at this point, having spent well over £300million. There is talk that Richarlison could leave the club, but the deadline is now only a couple of days away, and pulling that off could be a tricky feat.
Now, Gakpo appears to have chosen a move to the Etihad anyway, preferring to join the eight-time Premier League champions rather than moving to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
City have money to spend after offloading Savinho for a big fee and cutting Marmoush's wages for this season. City have spent big this summer, but they will be able to spend £70million or so on Gakpo, and it looks as though their interest is indeed serious.