Why Losing Gakpo To City Might Be The Price Of Getting Barcola Right
A Trade That Makes More Sense On A Balance Sheet Than On A Terrace
Word is spreading that Cody Gakpo has settled on Manchester City as his next move, with talks now progressing between the two clubs. According to The Athletic, the Dutch forward has ruled out Tottenham Hotspur and is pushing to get a switch to the Etihad over the line before the window shuts. Our first reaction, honestly, is not excitement.
There is a version of this story that reads as smart business. Bradley Barcola is close to arriving from Paris Saint-Germain, the front line is being reshaped around him, and Gakpo’s exit would free up both a squad slot and a decent chunk of the transfer kitty. Iraola even hinted at it himself last week, saying he could not guarantee anything about Gakpo’s future, a line that looks a lot more pointed in hindsight than it did at the time. City have not been standing still either, losing Savinho and Omar Marmoush to Tottenham this window while agreeing a £34.3m deal to sign Allan Elias from Palmeiras, so Gakpo would arrive as reinforcement rather than makeweight business.
What Liverpool Would Actually Be Giving Up
It is worth remembering what Gakpo has put into this shirt before anyone waves him off. Since arriving from PSV for around £37m in December 2022, he has racked up 50 goals and 23 assists in 180 games, played a real part in the 2024-25 title win with 18 goals and seven assists, and only days ago started against Nottingham Forest and set up a goal. This is not a fringe player being moved on, it is a title winner with mileage left in him.
It also matters for squad depth. Between Alexander Isak, the incoming Barcola and whoever else features across the front line, losing Gakpo removes a proven alternative who can play multiple positions without a drop in quality. If injuries strike in October or November, as they usually do, Iraola would be relying on options with far less top flight pedigree.
Yes, his numbers dipped after the turn of last year, and yes, a new five year deal signed just twelve months ago has not stopped speculation resurfacing. But form dips happen to strikers and wide forwards all the time, and selling into a dip rather than waiting it out is exactly the kind of decision that looks worse with hindsight than it does in the moment.
City’s Logic Is Obvious, That Is What Makes It Uncomfortable
From Manchester City’s side, none of this is a mystery. Enzo Maresca has been trying to solve the puzzle of who plays around Erling Haaland for a while now, and Gakpo ticks a lot of boxes, proven in England, comfortable through the middle or out wide, and durable enough to start most weeks. One line doing the rounds sums up City’s thinking neatly, that the move does appear to have plenty of logic behind it even if it is not the kind of signing that gets a fanbase buzzing.
That is the uncomfortable bit for us. Liverpool would not just be selling a player, they would be handing a title rival a ready made answer to one of their few remaining problems. Deals like that get signed off in boardrooms all the time, but they rarely feel good watching from the away end six months later.
Our View
We understand why this deal has legs. Barcola changes the maths up front, Iraola is entitled to shape his squad the way he wants, and if a player has genuinely decided he wants out, clubs generally end up letting business follow that reality rather than fighting it forever. None of that makes it comfortable.
Gakpo has been a good soldier for this club. He has taken the ups and downs in his stride without ever making himself the story, and that counts for something with supporters even when the underlying numbers say a sale makes sense. If this goes through, some of us will nod along at the logic. Plenty more will just feel like Liverpool have quietly made Manchester City better while sorting out their own attack, and that is a strange trade to feel good about no matter how the spreadsheet reads.