Cody Gakpo's Liverpool Future in Jeopardy After Slot Sacking
Cody Gakpo’s Liverpool chapter looks to be closing with a jolt rather than a gentle fade.
According to Dutch outlet Soccernews, the Netherlands international has submitted a transfer request in the wake of Arne Slot’s sacking, no longer seeing a future for himself at Anfield without the coach who backed him through a turbulent season.
From title catalyst to lightning rod
Gakpo arrived at Liverpool in January 2022 for an initial £37 million, a signing framed as part of the club’s next attacking era. Across 180 appearances he has produced 50 goals and 23 assists, numbers that speak of steady influence rather than fleeting cameos.
Last season, he played a notable part in Liverpool’s title win under Slot, contributing 15 goals and assists in the Premier League alone. Slot trusted him. Persisted with him. Built him into the structure of the side.
This season, that faith became a fault line.
Liverpool’s title defence crumbled into a fifth-placed finish. Performances dipped, confidence drained, and in the stands and online, frustration needed a target. Gakpo often found himself cast as the symbol of the malaise, many supporters baffled that Slot continued to select him ahead of teenage sensation Rio Ngumoha.
The pressure grew. The noise around his name rarely stopped. When the club’s form collapsed, Slot paid with his job.
Slot out, Iraola in – and Gakpo wants out
Slot’s dismissal has triggered more than just a change in the dugout. Andoni Iraola has stepped in, bringing a new voice, a new style, a new hierarchy. For Gakpo, that shift appears to have snapped whatever thread was keeping him in Liverpool red.
Soccernews report that the forward has formally asked to leave, specifically because he does not see a future at Liverpool without Slot. It is a blunt verdict on how central the Dutch coach was to his sense of belonging at the club.
The timing is stark. This is not a squad gently being reshaped. This is a frontline being ripped up and redrawn.
Atletico circle as Griezmann’s era ends
One heavyweight suitor is already on alert. The same report claims Atletico Madrid are keen on Gakpo as they search for a replacement for Antoine Griezmann, who is heading to MLS side Orlando City after his contract with the La Liga club expired.
Atletico “have ears for a collaboration” with Gakpo, as the Dutch outlet puts it, and the profile fits: a versatile forward, tactically disciplined, capable of working across the front line.
The price will not be soft. Gakpo is currently valued at around €60m (£52m) by Transfermarkt, and the suggestion is that “a lot of payment will have to be made” to prise him away. Yet the same reporting stresses that a deal is far from impossible.
Liverpool ready to listen
Crucially, Liverpool are not expected to stand in his way.
TEAMtalk report that the club are open to Gakpo’s sale this summer. Slot had been loyal to him, repeatedly selecting the winger despite criticism from sections of the fanbase and media, and rewarding him last year with a lucrative new contract worth around £250,000 a week through to June 2030.
That deal underlined how central he once looked to Liverpool’s plans. Now, the stance has flipped. With Gakpo pushing for an exit, the club are understood not to be preparing any blockade. If the right offer lands, they are ready to sanction his departure.
This comes at a moment of major upheaval in attack. Club icon Mohamed Salah is also leaving, forcing Liverpool into the market for a high-calibre replacement on the right. Letting Gakpo go as well would mean ripping out two major pieces of their forward line in a single window.
Yet the message from inside the club, as relayed by TEAMtalk, is clear: even with Salah departing, they are still prepared to approve Gakpo’s exit.
A summer of surgery on the wings
Back in March, before Salah’s exit became official, transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano flagged what was coming. He predicted a “busy summer for Liverpool with wingers,” stressing that the squad needed fresh energy in those wide attacking roles and name-checking the situations of both Salah and Gakpo.
That forecast now looks conservative.
Liverpool are staring at a complete rebuild of their attacking flanks under a new manager, with one high-profile winger already confirmed as leaving and another pushing to follow him out of the door.
Gakpo’s numbers show a player who contributed, who helped deliver a title, who never fully escaped scrutiny. Now, with Slot gone and the atmosphere around him soured, he appears ready to test himself elsewhere, and Atletico Madrid are watching closely.
Liverpool, meanwhile, must answer a blunt question: who leads the next great Anfield attack when two of their main wide forwards are ready to walk away in the same summer?
