Cody Gakpo's World Cup Goals and Liverpool Future

Cody Gakpo walked off the pitch with two more World Cup goals to his name and a question hanging in the air about his club future.

Asked how his role with the Netherlands compares to his deployment at Liverpool, he paused on the edge of saying too much.

“A good question. Obviously it's a little bit different,” he replied. “It's different where the coach wants me to be, the freedom that I have,” he added, then drew a line under it.

That hesitation said plenty.

A left side suddenly crowded

Gakpo’s latest international burst comes in a week when Liverpool have moved decisively in the market for players who operate in his part of the pitch.

Victor Munoz has arrived from Osasuna for £34.5m, another winger whose natural habitat is the left. Liverpool have also pushed forward with plans to pay a package of £86m to RB Leipzig for Yan Diomande, the highly rated 19-year-old who can play on either flank.

Two possible additions, both comfortable where Gakpo prefers to start. The message is clear: nobody’s shirt is safe.

For the 27-year-old, the timing is awkward. He is established, productive and, on his day, devastating. Yet the squad is being reshaped around him.

From title spearhead to searching for rhythm

Under Arne Slot in the title-winning 2024-25 campaign, Gakpo was central to Liverpool’s attacking edge. He finished that season with 18 goals and seven assists in 49 games across all competitions, numbers that underpinned the long-term deal he signed last summer. By every account, he was delighted to commit.

Then came last season.

He played three more matches but produced only nine goals and six assists. The drop-off mirrored a broader malaise at Anfield. He was far from the only one below his best, yet he will know those returns are not enough for a first-choice forward at a club chasing trophies.

Liverpool still see a reliable Premier League attacker, someone who can adapt to different roles and systems. That adaptability matters even more now with Hugo Ekitike likely out until 2027 with a ruptured Achilles. Gakpo’s ability to operate centrally gives Andoni Iraola a valuable option as he tries to rebuild an attack that laboured for long spells.

But the competition is real, and it is coming from all angles.

Chemistry on the flank – and a key relationship

Gakpo has always been most comfortable drifting in from the left, where he can face up defenders and cut inside. The 2025-26 season showed that his partnership with Milos Kerkez is still a work in progress.

Kerkez’s surging overlaps should, in theory, open up the inside channels for Gakpo to attack. Too often, that understanding misfired early on. The timing of runs, the angles, the instinctive give-and-go patterns – they were all just a fraction off.

As the season wore on, the pair began to click. Kerkez’s confidence grew, Gakpo found him more regularly, and the left flank started to look less predictable. Now Kerkez is reunited with his former Bournemouth manager, Iraola, and the expectation is that the Hungary left-back’s development will accelerate under a coach who knows exactly how to use him.

If Kerkez takes a step forward, Gakpo could be the one who benefits most.

Numbers, status and a shifting hierarchy

Strip it back to the basics and his Liverpool record remains strong: 50 goals in 180 appearances. Only Dirk Kuyt has previously reached a half-century for the club among Dutch players. When fit, Gakpo has usually been first choice.

But the landscape has changed.

Mohamed Salah has gone. At least one more attacking signing is expected. The pursuit of Diomande is intensifying. Talented teenager Rio Ngumoha is pushing for more minutes. Florian Wirtz, who at times operated off the left for Liverpool last season and is doing the same for Germany at this World Cup, complicates the picture further.

How Iraola views Wirtz’s best position may prove decisive. If the new head coach decides the German is most dangerous drifting in from that left half-space, Gakpo’s route to regular starts narrows. If Wirtz is moved centrally or to the right, the Dutchman’s prospects brighten.

Competition has brought the best out of him before. When Luis Diaz was at Anfield, Gakpo responded with some of his sharpest Liverpool form. He may need that same edge again.

A market watching closely

For the first time since he arrived from PSV Eindhoven in December 2022, a departure is more than just theoretical. Several clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, are monitoring his situation.

Any move would not come cheap. Liverpool would expect upwards of £60m, a significant profit on the initial £35m they paid after the 2022 World Cup. Those figures, combined with his age and versatility, make him one of the more intriguing potential moves of the summer.

Liverpool must decide whether he is part of the new core or a saleable asset to fund the next phase of Iraola’s rebuild.

World Cup stage, familiar spotlight

While the debate rumbles on in club boardrooms and dressing rooms, Gakpo is answering questions the way forwards prefer: with goals.

Against Sweden, he delivered a reminder of why he is so coveted. The first goal was all about movement and instinct, arriving unmarked at the back post for a simple tap-in. The second was pure Gakpo – cutting in from the left, shaping the defender, then drilling a right-footed finish with authority.

On a night when his Liverpool team-mate Alexander Isak failed to score, Gakpo seized the stage.

His World Cup record now stands at five goals in seven games across the 2022 and current tournaments. In total, he has 23 goals in 52 caps since his debut five years ago, numbers that underline his standing in a Dutch squad that feels tight-knit and united.

He carries influence off the pitch as well. Within the Netherlands camp, he plays a leading role among the Christians in the group.

“Cody is our pastor – he leads the prayers,” said Crysencio Summerville.

On the pitch, he has the full backing of his captain. Virgil van Dijk, who knows both the demands of Liverpool and the national team better than anyone, did not hold back after the 5-1 win over Sweden.

“He is an outstanding footballer,” Van Dijk said. “He works so hard for the team, he's disciplined and his quality stands out – his crosses, his assists, his goals.”

Those performances on the biggest stage will not make Liverpool’s decision any easier.

The Gakpo call

Gakpo’s focus, for now, is fixed on the World Cup. Liverpool can wait. Iraola can watch. The recruitment team can run their numbers and scenarios.

They will also remember how hard it can be for new signings to adapt. Isak and Wirtz both felt those growing pains in their debut seasons at Anfield. Gakpo has already come through that phase and proven he can deliver in the Premier League.

As Liverpool reshape an attack that stuttered too often last season, they must decide whether to build around a forward who keeps rising to international occasions, or cash in on a valuable asset while his stock is high.

The goals against Sweden were a reminder. The real verdict on his Liverpool future will be written in the months that follow.