Iraola’s Refusal To Rule Out A Gakpo Exit Says More Than It Lets On

A window that’s about to reshape the front line

With five days left before the transfer window shuts, Liverpool look set to add another attacking option after reportedly agreeing a £120m fee with Paris Saint-Germain for Bradley Barcola. On paper it strengthens Andoni Iraola’s forward options considerably, but it also raises an obvious question: who makes way for him.

Our take on Iraola’s answer

Cody Gakpo is the name most consistently linked with an exit, and it is not hard to see why. Nine league goals last season was a modest return for a player many expected to kick on, and Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly registered their interest. Asked directly in his pre-Forest press conference whether Gakpo would be staying, Iraola stopped well short of a guarantee, saying he cannot promise anything with a squad of nearly thirty players and the market still open.

That is a fairly standard managerial hedge on its own, the kind of non-answer most coaches give when pressed on a player’s future mid-window. But paired with the imminent arrival of Barcola, and Liverpool’s continued interest in both Yankuba Minteh and Ismaila Sarr, both of whom have already had bids knocked back, it reads like more than boilerplate caution to us.

Why this matters for squad balance

If Liverpool land another forward on top of Barcola, Gakpo’s route back into regular selection narrows fast. A move to north London would give him the fresh start his underwhelming campaign suggests he might need, while letting Iraola reshape his attack around new faces without an awkward numbers game. Nothing is confirmed yet, but the pieces look to be lining up.