Cody Gakpo told Liverpool there was only one reason why he wanted to join Man City
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Cody Gakpo continued his turnaround in form for Liverpool with a good goal during the Reds’ Carabao Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday.The Dutchman had a dreadful season last year, but the arrival of Andoni Iraola appears to have done the trick, with Gakpo so far hitting two goals and registering four assists across five outings under the Basque.Had things gone differently, Iraola would not have had his No. Towards the end of the summer window it had looked virtually certain that Gakpo would be leaving for Manchester City in an £80m deal.
Liverpool ultimately failed to find an appropriate replacement and the move was called off, but not after the 27-year-old had told the Reds that he wanted to go. We could see Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo together for the first time vs Atletico Madrid Photo Credit: Getty Images/Karl Bridgeman – UEFA According to journalist James Pearce, though, Gakpo informed Liverpool that the only reason he was keen to join one of their biggest domestic rivals was because it had been made clear to him that he would be sacrificed to raise funds for another new signing.Gakpo knew Liverpool were open to selling himThough he seemingly had one foot out of the door this summer, Gakpo deserves credit for knuckling down and getting on with business both as he waited to see about his move and after being forced to stay put.The Netherlands international has been one of Liverpool’s best players this season, and as Pearce notes, his form makes their attempts to sign players such as Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh look more than a little foolish.“I just think from Liverpool’s perspective, they were very lucky that Brighton ended up rejecting 50 and 60 million-pound bids for Minteh because if they had accepted them, then Gakpo would have gone to Manchester City,” he said on The Athletic FC Podcast.READ MORE: Could Liverpool really sell Florian Wirtz to Bayern Munich after ‘secret meetings’ confirmation“Bearing in mind that for a start, Minteh was out injured I think until October time.
That would have been a disastrous decision.”Pearce went on to confirm that Gakpo had informed Liverpool of his wish to join City, but was operating on the understanding that the Reds were open to letting him go in order to fund a third winger signing of the summer.“Quite understandably, Gakpo hasn’t felt anything remotely like a backlash from the fans, despite the fact that he told Liverpool, ‘yes, I’d like to join Man City’,” he said. “I think the context behind that was really important, because he only wanted to join Man City because he knew Liverpool were prepared to sell him and were looking to bring in another winger that would mean that they’d have to generate money in terms of bringing in cash.”Join Our NewsletterReceive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox