Cody Gakpo's Liverpool Future in Doubt as Tottenham Plot Summer Move

Cody Gakpo is a player that sparks debate amongst many within the LFC fanbase, with some rating him and others believing he isn't good enough for Liverpool, but it hasn't always been that way.

From the moment he arrived from PSV Eindhoven in January 2023, the Liverpool fans immediately loved him, not only for the fact that from January until the end of the season Gakpo would score seven goals and 2 assists for Liverpool, but also for the fact that the Reds managed to sign Gakpo ahead of fierce rivals Manchester United, who were also heavily interested in the Dutch winger.  

Fans became accustomed to Gakpo's signature cutting in from the left flank and bending a clinical finish into the opposition's left. Everyone knew what he was going to do, but it seemed no one could stop him. 

In Cody Gakpo's first two and a half years at Liverpool, he was rotated in and out of the side with former Liverpool winger Luis Diaz.

Diaz offered something completely different to Gakpo, with Diaz being a winger full of energy, pace, tenacity and a desire to take a defender on, whether that was around the outside or cutting in on the inside. Still, questions were always raised about his finishing ability.

But Gakpo, while he didn't have the raw speed and pace of Luis Diaz, what he did have was ruthless finishing, and the pair worked well rotating with one another, and it allowed Liverpool to be able to respond to what the game needed at any given moment. 

However, last summer Luis Diaz departed Anfield and joined German Giants Bayern Munich in a deal worth around £65 million. This meant that Cody Gakpo was to become the out-and-out left winger for LFC going into the new season.

Last season would turn out to be one of the worst of Cody Gakpo's career, and not because of his direct output, as the forward still scored nine goals and six assists in a struggling Liverpool side.

The issue was that, as tensions between the fanbase and then-manager Arne Slot grew, Cody Gakpo was heavily 'scapegoated' by large sections of the fanbase, which won't have done his confidence any good.

Gakpo's situation perhaps wasn't helped by the breakthrough of Rio Ngumoha, who impressed every time he was on the pitch, meaning that when he wasn't, and Cody Gakpo was there in poor form, the calls for Gakpo to be dropped only grew. 

So, following a poor season, it has been speculated that Gakpo could be on his way out of Liverpool, and with Rio Ngumoha pushing for a starting spot under new manager Andoni Iraola, Gakpo is unlikely to settle for being 2nd choice. 

Spurs are the club that have been most heavily linked with the Dutch winger, despite tentative reports linking him to Bayern Munich.

Fabrizio Romano has reported that Cody Gakpo to Spurs is definitely a situation to keep an eye on this summer, and it depends on whether Liverpool opens the door to allowing the forward to leave. 

Furthermore, in a press conference this week Andoni Iraola stated that:

Now, Cody Gakpo has always been a left winger, sometimes a central striker, but has very little experience playing right wing before.

This isn't to say he couldn't learn and adjust to the position, but it immediately puts him on the back foot compared to the likes of Rio Ngumoha and Federico Chiesa, who have shown they are comfortable playing on both sides.

So whether Gakpo leaves this summer or not remains unknown, but what does seem clear is that for Gakpo to remain a LFC player, he needs to prove to the new manager that he can fit into how he wants to set his teams up.

And failing to do so could bring to an end a four-year stint at Anfield for Cody Gakpo.