Manchester City have emerged as a surprise suitor for Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo, with reports suggesting the move would be far from straightforward. One assessment has already described any possible deal as \u201cproblematic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The interest adds another layer to what has been a restless summer around the Dutch forward. Liverpool\u2019s own recruitment in wide areas has suggested there were already reservations about their attacking depth, even before City entered the picture. That stance could now be tested.<\/p>\n
According to The Times, City have already contacted Gakpo\u2019s representatives. There have been no talks with Liverpool at this stage, but the interest is believed to be genuine. City are understood to view the 27-year-old as potential cover for Erling Haaland, even though Gakpo is a natural left winger and has struggled when used centrally for Liverpool.<\/p>\n
City\u2019s plans elsewhere complicate the picture. A replacement for the Tottenham-bound S\u00e1vio is already said to be taking shape in Palmeiras forward Allan Elias, while Omar Marmoush is also expected to move on this summer. That would leave the new-look City side lighter in attack, which helps explain why Gakpo has entered the conversation.<\/p>\n
For Liverpool, any sale would depend on suitable replacements arriving first. The Athletic have said it would be \u201cinconceivable\u201d for Liverpool to allow Gakpo to leave unless two more wingers are signed. Their targets remain familiar: Bradley Barcola, Ibrahim Mbaye, and Yankuba Minteh have all been linked, with Rio Ngumoha potentially benefitting if a left-sided slot opens up more regularly.<\/p>\n
But there is a major obstacle. Liverpool\u2019s valuations and the asking prices are still too far apart, and neither Paris Saint-Germain nor Brighton are under pressure to sell. Unless Liverpool raise their spending, replacement business may not happen.<\/p>\n
That leaves Liverpool in a strong position. Gakpo has four years left on a contract signed last August, and The Athletic believe City would need to pay more than $102.3 million (\u00a375 million) to secure him, especially with the added cost of taking a player from a direct rival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
City have contacted Gakpo’s camp, but Liverpool would need major replacements before any sale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18746,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,238],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-manchester-city"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}