Through a trying and tiresome 2025-26 season at Liverpool, left winger Cody Gakpo’s desire to ignore the overlapping fullback, cut insider onto his right foot, and blast a shot against the first defender became one of the most consistently unpleasant parts of watching the Reds play.
So predictable were his efforts that Gakpo ended the season as the Premier League player who had the most shots blocked with 33. He was not amongst the top ten for shots actually hitting the target.
At the World Cup, though,
Gakpo has been far more effective. Against Sweden and a right back who plays in the Swedish second division, he scored twice and added an assist in the Netherlands’ 5-1 victory on Saturday, after the match stating “the freedom I have” is different with the national team.
Also, you know, the defenders he’s going up against are worse and have played maybe a dozen games together with their teammates over the past year at the international level. Still, it’s nice to see Gakpo’s approach vindicated after a year of club level misery, I guess.
Whether it can translate back to the Premier League with Liverpool is another question. But it’s a question that might not be Liverpool’s to worry about if a recent wave of rumours about Tottenham interest in the forward are anything to go by.
There are claimed exclusives from some of the sketchier corners of the transfer rumour world suggesting Spurs have firmly established contact with Gakpo and that personal terms have already been hammered out, with the next step of course being to hammer out a transfer fee for the player with Liverpool.
Whether any of this is true is of course another matter, as is whether Spurs would be willing to meet the likely £60-80M asking price Liverpool would demand for a player who will only see his value continue to rise if he can keep bullying lower league opposition.
Even if it is, there will be concerns for the Reds given how much turnover they’re dealing with. Gakpo was a problem last season, though not the only one, but there’s something to be said for a little continuity and at the moment Liverpool appear likely to go into next season with little of that.
