John Aldridge has implored the Liverpool hierarchy not to make one potentially ‘insane’ decision in the final two weeks of the summer transfer window.
There continues to be intense speculation over several players at Anfield as the 1 September deadline approaches, with Cody Gakpo among those being linked with a prospective exit from L4.
There have been claims from Dutch media that the 27-year-old would be open to joining Tottenham Hotspur amid strong interest from the north London club, and TEAMtalk reported that Andoni Iraola would be prepared to sanction his departure if the Reds can bring in a replacement winger this month.
However, Aldridge is praying that Liverpool don’t cash in on the Netherlands international – or indeed any senior players – so that they have the quality and quantity within their squad to improve discernible on last season’s disapponting fifth-place finish.
Aldridge: Liverpool would be ‘insane’ to let Gakpo leave
The former Reds striker wrote in his latest column for the Liverpool Echo: ‘I’m not saying Liverpool need to have a squad capable of challenging for the title, but we have to give ourselves a chance of a top-four finish, so the talk about Cody Gakpo potentially leaving is worrying. Liverpool cannot sell him. It would be insane to do that.’
Aldridge went on to say that ‘Liverpool need to be buying players – not selling them’.
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Liverpool surely won’t let Gakpo leave unless Barcola arrives
The columnist’s concerns are most understandable – the Reds will be juggling four competitions again this season, and there’ll be an expectation to improve upon a dreadful 2025/26 campaign, so ensuring that there’s adequate depth througout the squad is essential.
Gakpo might be playing in one of the more generously stacked positions in the team, but he showed with his fine performances against Monaco and Como that he still has plenty to offer for his current club and seems determined to atone for last term’s poor return of just nine goals in 52 games.
Liverpool’s decision on the Dutchman will likely be contingent on the fate of their pursuit of Bradley Barcola. If the Paris Saint-Germain winger doesn’t end up at Anfield, we can’t envisage FSG signing off on an exit for our number 18.
However, if the Frenchman is signed and Spurs put £70m on the table for Gakpo, LFC might be prepared to take the money for the latter, particularly as it’d then maintain the current permissible maximum of 17 non-homegrown players for our Premier League squad.
As of now, we fully agree with Aldridge that selling the Netherlands winger without bringing in a replacement would be foolish in the extreme from Reds bosses, and we’d be almost certain that’s the view Iraola would have.
Well I disagree with E of K and Aldridge, from my seat at the games last season Gapko did not put in or perform, he is a big solid lad and to me he just did not put his heart into any of the games he played/that is unacceptable under any circumstances. So for me I am selling him….mind you I am not paying the silly money PSG have asked for Barcola – indeed the last offer by us for Barcola was overpricing him – Rayan or Yildiz are much better players/options…I would also buy Mbaye. YNWA
Assuming you are a coach, this is what you will do bad coach.
you are a bad person, because he did not try last term that mean he will not try this season.
john you are a bad person
Hi John – fellow bad person here. I don’t think he’s ever been a world-beater but I think he stays due to his versatility. With Ekitike out for a good chunk of the season, I reckon the gaffer sees him as a potential backup to Isaak/as part of a fluid front three. I could be completely wrong & he could sign for Spurs this afternoon but until we sign a replacement, I don’t think the club will sanction a move.
I agree with Aldo, last season is done and best forgotten. All but a small handful had awful season, whether it was the gutting of the team, newbies not finding their stride until the latter stage of the season, the injuries, losing the depth in squad or passing of Jota or Slot’s decisions. So if you believe bad last season so will be bad season then get rid of the whole squad except Dominik and Rio. As shown in the last game against Como, Gakpo was involved in the 2 goals. It can’t be a case of 1 in, 1 out because we need to build up our depth in squad again and we don’t want to lose him to a rival team like Spurs. Give him until January at least to see if he has found his groove again, if not sell him then, especially as we’ll be without Ekitike for months. Letting him go now would be an insane decision like selling Quansah and Kelleher, should have gone out on loan instead
We will soon be signing two more wingers for around 170 million, Barcola and mbaye, you can’t have five wingers, money needs to come back in.
70 million for Gakpo 30 million for Jones.
Gakpo wants to leave, he’s a decent squad player but Barcola will be better.
Gakpo was always going to leave this summer, you can’t turn down 70 million for him.
I agree. 70 million is about 35 million profit. Gakpo is a solid player and has done well for us, but he has little pace, is predictable as he cuts inside all the time and needs about 6 chances to get 1 on target / goal. Barcola will be a massive upgrade, the one we should have done when Diaz left. Mbaye would be another great addition to add to the new Spanish lad, Rio, Isak and Etitke. We will then have loads of pace in attack and given their ages, also means we will be well stacked for the next 5 or so years
Put Gakpo in the French league and he will get you more numbers than Barcola. Look at Diaz now. What is Barcola’s number in the French league that tells you he is just going to get a fraction of that in the EPL?