Cody Gakpo, Tottenham and Liverpool’s Summer Reset as Exit Talk Grows
Liverpool are rebuilding again. That is the reality after a grim 2025-26 campaign, one that exposed soft edges, poor recruitment balance and a squad that looked too easy to play against. Andoni Iraola has walked into a club that still has quality, but quality alone does not fix a side that lost its way.
That is why the latest noise around Cody Gakpo matters. According to Joost Blaauwhof, Tottenham have made their move and the Dutch forward is very much on their radar. The key line was clear enough. “Any potential arrival of Savinho at Spurs is entirely separate from the situation surrounding Cody Gakpo,” he wrote. He then added, “Roberto De Zerbi has other roles in mind for the attackers from Manchester City and Liverpool. Difficult transfer, but the Oranje international remains a very important target.”
Blaauwhof followed that up with another significant update, writing: “Tottenham Hotspur has formally expressed interest in Cody Gakpo to Liverpool.” In a summer when plenty of rumours are little more than background noise, that lands with more weight.
Liverpool squad rebuild leaves little room
There is no point dressing this up. Gakpo had a poor season by his standards. He never looked settled, never imposed himself regularly enough and too often drifted through matches. For a player expected to shoulder more responsibility, that was a major disappointment.
Liverpool’s attack is being reshaped and the message appears obvious. The club have already moved in the market, younger options are pushing through and more names are being discussed. Rio Ngumoha’s rise changed the conversation late last season, while Victor Munoz’s arrival adds another layer to a part of the pitch that already feels overcrowded.
If Kieran Morrison and Lewis Koumas remain around the first-team picture, the competition only tightens. Add the reported interest in Ibrahim Mbaye and Bradley Barcola and it becomes easier to see why Gakpo’s future is under such scrutiny. This is not sentiment time. It is sorting out time.
Photo: IMAGO
Tottenham interest could suit everyone
Spurs wanting Gakpo makes football sense. He is still at an age where a move can revive momentum, and there remains a good player in there if he finds the right structure and confidence. Sometimes a footballer and a club simply stop fitting each other. That does not make either side wrong, it just makes the next decision important.
From Liverpool’s perspective, this is about clarity. Iraola needs players who match his ideas, his tempo and his demands. If Gakpo is no longer central to that plan, then moving him on is the sensible call. The Dutchman signed a new deal not long ago, which means Liverpool should be in a strong position to command a serious fee.
That matters because squad reconstruction costs money, and plenty of it. If Liverpool are serious about refreshing their frontline, every outgoing deal has to work hard for them. A sale to Tottenham would not solve everything, but it could help open the door to the next move.
Summer decisions will define Iraola era
This is what good summers look like, hard choices, cold assessments and no room for nostalgia. Liverpool cannot afford another campaign where the squad looks unfinished by August and unconvincing by October. If Iraola and Richard Hughes believe Gakpo is expendable, they have to act decisively.
There is a wider point here too. Liverpool have spent too long recently trying to patch problems rather than confront them. The left side of the attack has lacked certainty, and the club now have a chance to reshape it with purpose. Selling a player with pedigree is never easy, but keeping one who no longer suits the direction of travel is worse.
Tottenham’s formal interest may yet come to nothing. Transfers have a habit of twisting in odd directions. Still, this feels like one of those moments when the road ahead becomes easier to read. Gakpo’s future, once open to debate, now looks far more likely to lie away from Anfield.
Our View
As Liverpool supporters, we have seen this sort of summer before. A player arrives with promise, shows flashes, gets people onside, then the road starts to bend away from him. Cody Gakpo always looked like he had the tools, height, touch, a decent strike, flexibility across the front line. But too often he felt like a player being discussed for what he might do rather than judged on what he was actually doing.
If Tottenham really are serious, Liverpool should listen. That is not about scapegoating him for last season, because the collapse went far beyond one forward. It is about making a clean decision at the right time. Iraola needs a side that feels sharp, hungry and built for his football. If Gakpo does not fit that picture, there is no sense dragging it out until deadline day.
The bigger issue is whether Liverpool use any fee wisely. Supporters will accept sales if they can see the logic and the replacement level improves the team. That is always the deal. Move on players who are no longer driving standards, then reinvest with purpose. If this report is the start of that process, many fans will see it as overdue rather than harsh.