Gakpo's exit is OFF — he's signed a new long-term Liverpool deal
Linked with an £85m move to Manchester City for much of the window. He has instead extended at Anfield.
Cody Gakpo has signed a new long-term contract at Liverpool, ending a window in which his departure was treated in some quarters as a formality.
Reporting through August had connected Gakpo to Manchester City, with the suggestion that Liverpool would consider an offer in the region of £85m — but only if they secured a right-sided forward first. They have not, and he has signed.
Why it matters more than it looks
Liverpool have added Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and now Bradley Barcola inside twelve months. In that context, keeping Gakpo is a decision about depth over balance-sheet tidiness — four forwards of that cost cannot all start, and the club has chosen to carry the problem rather than solve it by selling.
It also removes the mechanism by which a late right-winger was going to be funded, which makes the Ismaila Sarr and Yankuba Minteh situations harder rather than easier.
What happens now
Gakpo has started predominantly from the left and through the middle. Barcola’s best work is also on the left. Andoni Iraola, still without a league win, now has that to resolve.
New contract reported by FotMob and Liverpool.com.
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