Although our domestic Premier League campaign went nowhere near as well as anyone would have liked at Liverpool last season – culminating in the departure of manager Arne Slot – our heavy summer spending did set us up nicely for the future, with the caveat that they clearly needed more than 12 months to fully settle and come together.
With the club pivoting to former Bournemouth gaffer Andoni Iraola over the summer, our spending shows no signs of slowing down as we have already laid out nigh on £100 million for Victor Munoz and Jeremy Jacquet. We have turned attentions from Yankuba Minteh to Ismaila Sarr and if reports are to be believed, we are on the verge of securing a circa £125 million deal for hugely talented Paris Saint-Germain and French international attacker Bradley Barcola.
Naturally, in the days of Squad Cost Ratio’s, the financial books have to be balanced and that means opportunities for those who like the best betting offers and their transfer odds. More high profile departures this summer have been Curtis Jones, Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate, and with this summer’s Deadline Day now approaching with the month of September on the horizon, there are strong reports that Cody Gakpo could well be the next player to head for the exit door.
The 27 year old versatile attacker and 54 capped Netherlands international, has made well over 100 appearances for the club since arriving in Merseyside from PSV Eindhoven back in the 2023 January transfer window, and he has proven to be an interesting additional to the speculation rumour mill this summer as some outlets have been adamant that he would be off for pastures new, whilst the view from closer to home was that he was never really for sale.
Claims of interest have bumbled on in the background for a good while now, but with the closure of the window nearing, it is being strongly claimed that this years’ unexpected big spenders, Tottenham Hotspur, and Roberto De Zerbi, remain in pole position for his capture. However, equally strong reports suggest that Manchester City have made him one of their top targets for their new gaffer, Enzo Maresca, stating that they are determined to ‘hijack’ a supposed deal that Spurs have managed to put in place with the player directly.
Spurs have certainly spent this summer with seven new signings already made, including a bizarre £85 million deal for City’s Savinho, which seems to also involve a loan to buy at a better priced, Omar Marmoush, expected to quickly follow. As Spurs deals eclipse the £300 million mark, it does mean City have a Spurs related in excess of £100 million extra to play with, and that is what will apparently fund their interest Gakpo.
As reports rightly point out, Liverpool are yet to agree a fee with either club and he featured, and scored, in our PL opener with Newcastle United last weekend, so he is far from Iraola’s thoughts. However, the situation from our point of view could change if we secure both Barcola and Sarr.
It is that latter point that all of the Gakpo speculation hinges on, and that has not changed in the last month, so if anything does happen here then it is going to be an extremely late final day move.
