Cody Gakpo: A Star for the Netherlands, a Puzzle for Liverpool
Cody Gakpo walked off the pitch with two more World Cup goals to his name and a question that cut straight to the heart of his career.
How different does his role for the Netherlands feel compared with Liverpool?
“A good question. Obviously it's a little bit different,” he replied. “It's different where the coach wants me to be, the freedom that I have.” Then he stopped himself. No elaboration. No fuel for the summer rumour mill. Just a knowing pause.
That silence said plenty.
A star for country, a puzzle for club
Gakpo’s double against Sweden underlined what he has become for his country: a reliable, decisive forward on the biggest stage. Five goals in seven World Cup games, 23 in 52 caps overall. The numbers are elite, the performances increasingly authoritative.
His brace on Sunday showcased both sides of his game. The first, a striker’s instinct – ghosting in at the back post for a simple tap-in. The second, pure Gakpo – drifting in from the left, opening his body and drilling a right-footed finish past a beaten goalkeeper. Trademark stuff.
Inside the Dutch camp, they see more than just the goals. He is a leader in the dressing room too, particularly for the Christians in the squad. “Cody is our pastor – he leads the prayers,” said Crysencio Summerville. On the pitch, Virgil van Dijk hardly needed persuading. “He is an outstanding footballer. He works so hard for the team, he's disciplined and his quality stands out – his crosses, his assists, his goals.”
For the Netherlands, the role is clear. For Liverpool, it is suddenly anything but.
Liverpool’s left side gets crowded
Back on Merseyside, the landscape around Gakpo is shifting fast.
Liverpool have already moved for another left-sided winger, Victor Munoz, arriving from Osasuna for £34.5m. They are also pushing hard for 19-year-old Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig, a highly rated forward who can operate on either flank, in a deal that could reach £86m.
Both can play in the very zone Gakpo prefers. Both arrive – or may arrive – at a time when Liverpool are reshaping an attack that stuttered last season and must now live without Mohamed Salah.
The question writes itself. Where does Gakpo fit?
From title catalyst to question mark
Under Arne Slot in the title-winning 2024-25 campaign, Gakpo looked like a cornerstone of Liverpool’s future. Eighteen goals, seven assists, 49 games in all competitions. He stretched defences, linked play, and delivered in big moments. The reward was a long-term contract at Anfield last summer, a deal he was, by all accounts, delighted to sign.
Then came last season.
Three more matches, but the output dropped: nine goals, six assists. A difficult year for the team as a whole, and Gakpo was far from the only one below his best. Still, he will know those numbers are not enough for a forward of his standing at a club with Liverpool’s ambitions.
His preferred berth on the left exposed another issue. The chemistry with Milos Kerkez took time to develop, especially when it came to exploiting the Hungarian full-back’s aggressive overlapping runs. Too often the timing was off, the angles not quite right. The understanding did improve as the season wore on, and with Kerkez now working again under his old Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola, Liverpool expect the left-back’s development to accelerate.
That could yet be a lifeline for Gakpo. A sharper, more assertive Kerkez might finally unlock the best version of the Dutchman on that flank.
A proven scorer, but no longer untouchable
Strip away the noise and one fact remains: Gakpo delivers goals. Fifty in 180 appearances for Liverpool make him only the second Dutchman after Dirk Kuyt to reach a half-century for the club. When fit, he has generally been first choice.
Inside Anfield, they still see a proven Premier League attacker who can play in multiple roles. With Hugo Ekitike potentially sidelined until 2027 after a ruptured Achilles, Gakpo’s ability to operate centrally is not a luxury – it is a necessity. He gives Iraola options: left wing, central forward, even a hybrid role in certain systems.
But this is no longer a squad built around fixed hierarchies. Salah has gone. At least one more attacker is expected through the door. The pursuit of Diomande is gathering pace. Talented teenager Rio Ngumoha is earmarked for a bigger role. Florian Wirtz, who spent spells on the left for Liverpool last season and is doing the same for Germany at this World Cup, adds another layer of complexity.
How Iraola sees Wirtz may well be the hinge on which Gakpo’s Liverpool future swings. If Wirtz is locked in as a left-sided creator, the space narrows. If the German is moved centrally or deeper, a lane opens.
Competition or crossroads?
Gakpo has been here before, in a sense. When Luis Diaz arrived, the increased competition seemed to sharpen him. He responded, raised his level, and forced his way into the core of the side.
This time feels different. For the first time since he walked through the door in December 2022, a move away is more than just idle speculation. Several clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, are monitoring his situation. Any deal would likely start north of £60m – a hefty profit on the £35m paid to PSV Eindhoven after the 2022 World Cup.
Liverpool will not be pushed into a corner. A player with his numbers, in his prime at 27, on a long contract, is not one they need to sell. But they are also trying to rebuild an attack that laboured and misfired last season. Nothing is off the table.
World Cup form and a summer dilemma
While the transfer talk swirls, Gakpo is doing what he can control: scoring for his country and leading from the front. His start to this World Cup has been impressive, his confidence visibly higher than during much of Liverpool’s campaign.
His performance against Sweden was a timely reminder, not just to Liverpool but to the wider market, of what he brings: movement, intelligence, end product. On a night when club team-mate Alexander Isak failed to find the net, Gakpo stole the headlines.
Inside Anfield, that matters. The struggles of Isak and Wirtz in their debut seasons in Liverpool colours are a cautionary tale about assuming instant impact from big-money signings. Gakpo, for all the debate around his best role, is already proven in this league, in this team, in this environment.
That is why his situation is so delicate. Too valuable to discard lightly. Too important a decision to fudge.
As Iraola and Liverpool’s recruitment team redraw the front line, one question hangs over the summer: is Cody Gakpo the player they build around, or the asset they cash in on to fund the next evolution of their attack?
