Liverpool's Plans for Cody Gakpo and Potential Replacement

Liverpool’s American owners have made up their minds on Cody Gakpo – and that clarity is already rippling across the market.

Tottenham, sensing opportunity, have been informed there is a genuine chance of prising the Dutchman out of Anfield this summer. And if that happens, Liverpool already have a £78m dream replacement in their sights: Bradley Barcola of PSG.

Gakpo on the brink

Gakpo’s Liverpool career has never quite settled, but this past season it went into reverse. Like so many of his team-mates, his form collapsed during a dismal 2025/26 campaign that saw the club surrender their Premier League crown with barely a fight.

The collapse cost Arne Slot his job. It wasn’t just results. The football turned slow and predictable, the connection with the supporters evaporated, and FSG acted, removing the Dutchman and turning to Andoni Iraola to jolt the squad back to life.

In that context, Gakpo has become a lightning rod. Criticised heavily by sections of the fanbase, he now finds his future under sharper scrutiny with a new manager, a new style, and a board willing to reshape the attack.

Reports in the Netherlands have suggested the winger is ready to ask out, fearing reduced minutes under Iraola. Those claims have helped fuel the idea of a summer exit and alerted Tottenham to the possibility of a big-money move for a player who has racked up 121 senior goals in his career.

Journalist David Lynch, speaking on Anfield Index, revealed that Liverpool’s hierarchy are far more open to a sale than many expected.

“I was really, really surprised, I’ll be honest, when I kind of had a conversation about this just before I went away,” Lynch said. “I said, surely there’s no chance Gakpo’s on the way this summer, they’ve got so much to do already. The answer I got back was kind of ‘hmm, nah, we could sell him.’”

That response shifted the picture. What looked like a reset season under a new coach for Gakpo now feels like a crossroads.

“I really didn’t expect that personally,” Lynch continued. “I thought Liverpool would just totally acknowledge that he’s got his flaws, but give him one more season, see where he’s up to and what they can get out of him from a new manager. But he very much seems to me to be up for a possible sale this summer.

“That’s not to say he’s guaranteed to go, but if an offer on the table comes in that is good enough, then Liverpool will 100 per cent accept it. I just didn’t expect that at all. So, one to definitely keep an eye on.”

Tottenham certainly are. For them, a player of Gakpo’s profile, age and versatility rarely becomes available from a direct rival unless something has shifted internally. At Liverpool, it clearly has.

No transfer request – but the door is open

Lynch did move quickly to cool talk that Gakpo has already tried to force the issue.

“One thing that was played down, this idea that he’s asked to leave, is nonsense,” he said.

For now, the Dutchman’s mind is on international duty.

“At the moment, the player’s focus is on the World Cup as I understand it, but maybe when he comes back, there’s a real chance for him to go. It does rely on people stumping up the money, but it seems there’s interest in him. So, if that happens, we could be saying goodbye to Gakpo.”

That is the reality of Liverpool’s stance. No active push to force him out, no public drama, but a clear internal line: the right bid, and he goes.

Barcola: the £78m winger Liverpool admire

If Gakpo leaves, Liverpool will not treat it as a simple numbers game. They have already moved for Victor Munoz this summer and remain locked on to Yan Diomande as their main attacking priority, yet the possibility of a third winger arriving is very much alive.

Lynch believes the club are watching Bradley Barcola’s situation at PSG with real interest. The France winger, rated at around €90m (£78m, $103m), has emerged as a serious candidate to step into any gap left by Gakpo.

“For me, that feels very feasible,” Lynch said. The path is complicated, but not unrealistic.

“There are so many things that have to happen here. Gakpo has to go; the bid has to be right, and that probably happens after his World Cup campaign. Then Barcola will have to be in a position where PSG are willing to let him leave. He’s got to pick them [Liverpool].”

That last point matters. Arsenal have been linked before, and a player of Barcola’s profile will not be short of options. But Liverpool’s interest is not new or casual.

“I’ve been reporting for a long time that Barcola’s a player of interest,” Lynch said. “Earlier in the summer, I felt that they want Diomande, if they can’t get him, then maybe the door is open to Barcola, but the fact that he’s someone that they do like, he can play on either side and centrally, though he primarily prefers the left, it does make sense that he’d be someone they’d pursue if they do lose Gakpo.

“If Gakpo goes, then he would need to be replaced,” he added. “And I don’t think Diomande and Ngumoha are seen as replacements. I would watch that one, it feels like it’s not taking too huge a leap to say it’s a possibility to see Gakpo going and Barcola coming in.”

Fabrizio Romano has already stated that Iraola “loves” Barcola, and has highlighted a contract detail that could strengthen Liverpool’s hand if PSG do decide to cash in. The admiration is mutual on the football side; the question is whether the finances and timing align.

Diomande the priority, tension building

All of this unfolds against a backdrop where FSG’s primary task remains unchanged: land Yan Diomande.

Liverpool’s recruitment plan has Diomande at the top of the list. Talks with RB Leipzig have dragged, and frustration is reportedly growing in the player’s camp as they wait for Liverpool to finally strike a deal.

A record-breaking agreement has been described as something that could be wrapped up in “one or two days” once the clubs find common ground. Until then, everything else sits in a kind of holding pattern.

Gakpo’s future. Barcola’s availability. Tottenham’s ambitions. Arsenal’s interest. All of it feeds into a summer in which Liverpool are trying to rebuild an attack, reshape a squad, and back a new manager in Iraola.

If the right bid lands on FSG’s desk and Gakpo walks away, Anfield could quickly become the stage for another high-priced winger in red. The only real question now is whether this is the moment Liverpool rip up one attacking plan and commit fully to another.