Liverpool's Summer Transfer Strategy: Replacing Salah and Gakpo's Future

Liverpool’s transfer plan this summer has been brutally clear: replace Mohamed Salah’s one-v-one magic out wide or risk a serious step backwards.

Salah’s departure on a free has left a crater on the right flank. Goals, assists, gravity. All gone in one hit. And for all the noise around Anfield, that void still hasn’t been properly filled.

Richard Hughes has made a start. Triggering Victor Munoz’s £34 million release clause at Osasuna brought a Spain World Cup winner to Merseyside and ticked one big box. It was a statement move, but not the final one. Not if Liverpool want to maintain the attacking depth that carried them to the 2024/25 Premier League title.

Now the real juggling act begins.

Liverpool push for Barcola and Minteh

Liverpool are actively working on at least two more wide forwards. Bradley Barcola has been the preferred option from the moment the club were knocked back in the race for Yan Diomande.

Barcola is the one they really want. The problem? Paris Saint-Germain know it. The French champions are demanding a huge fee, with talks understood to be starting at around £145 million before they will even consider letting the 23-year-old leave.

While that saga simmers, Liverpool have opened another front.

This week, the champions launched their first moves for Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh. The 22-year-old Gambian, a left-footer with pace and edge, has already been the subject of two Liverpool bids: £50 million and £60 million. Brighton, though, are holding their line. The Seagulls are signalling that nothing happens until an offer hits £70 million.

At those numbers, something has to give at Anfield. To land Barcola, Minteh, or both, Liverpool will almost certainly need to cash in on a major asset.

One name keeps coming up.

Gakpo emerges as Liverpool’s sacrifice

Cody Gakpo, on £250,000 a week at Liverpool, is being lined up as the man who could unlock the next phase of their rebuild.

Tottenham Hotspur have been circling for some time. A fee of around £72 million has been floated, and the 27-year-old is a long-term favourite of Spurs head coach Roberto De Zerbi, who is close to ripping up and rebuilding his frontline.

Spurs have already moved aggressively. Manchester City pair Savinho and Omar Marmoush are set to be part of De Zerbi’s new-look attack, with Gakpo viewed as the final piece of the jigsaw for the Italian.

Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has now ramped up the sense that this is moving quickly.

“Don’t forget Cody Gakpo, because Savinho is going to Tottenham in London for medical tests and contract signing,” he told his YouTube audience. “Omar Marmoush is expected to go to Tottenham as a centre striker, and he’s a target that is probably going to happen in the next days, as I told you.

“But I told you always: right winger, left winger, centre striker. This was what I told you about Tottenham. And for the left winger, the name remains Cody Gakpo.

“Tottenham are working on it. Tottenham are working on the player side. Player terms are not an issue. And then Tottenham remain absolutely on it on the club side with Liverpool.

“So, Gakpo to Tottenham could be over in the next days if the total deal can be agreed.”

Those words will echo around Anfield’s corridors. Because selling Gakpo doesn’t just reshape Liverpool’s forward options – it helps fund the next wave.

From title winner to expendable?

Gakpo arrived from PSV in January 2023 and played a major role in Liverpool’s 2024/25 title-winning campaign. At his best, he offered versatility across the frontline, a calm presence in big moments and a knack for drifting into dangerous pockets.

Last season told a different story. Performances dipped, the goals dried up, and patience in the stands thinned. A growing section of supporters began calling for an upgrade in his position, especially with the club openly targeting more explosive wide threats.

If Liverpool get Barcola over the line, the Frenchman is expected to take Gakpo’s place in the pecking order on the left. Andoni Iraola already has Rio Ngumoha and Munoz available on that side as well, giving him a cluster of options and making Gakpo look more like a saleable asset than an automatic starter.

Liverpool’s attack is being torn down and rebuilt on the fly. The champions want fresh one-v-one specialists, more chaos, more incision from wide areas.

To get there, they may have to let a title winner walk out of the door and into a Spurs shirt.