Cody Gakpo's World Cup Performance and Liverpool's Attack Reshape

Cody Gakpo walked off the pitch in Dutch orange with two more World Cup goals to his name and a question hanging over him.

How can a player who looks so liberated for the Netherlands sometimes feel boxed in at Liverpool?

“A good question. Obviously it's a little bit different,” he said when asked about his role for club and country. He mentioned the coach’s demands, the freedom he enjoys. Then he stopped himself. The pause said enough.

A World Cup reminder as Liverpool reshape

His brace against Sweden did more than fire the Netherlands through a statement 5-1 win. It arrived in the same week Liverpool continued to redraw their attacking map.

Victor Munoz has already come in from Osasuna for £34.5m, another left-sided winger in a squad that already contains Gakpo, Luis Diaz and Florian Wirtz, who operated off that flank at times last season. Liverpool have also pushed ahead with plans to pay around £86m to RB Leipzig for Yan Diomande, the highly rated 19-year-old forward who can play on either wing.

Two potential additions. Both comfortable in Gakpo’s territory.

For a 27-year-old who only last summer signed a long-term deal at Anfield and spoke of his happiness in doing so, the timing is striking.

From title catalyst to searching for rhythm

Under Arne Slot in the title-winning 2024-25 campaign, Gakpo looked like a cornerstone. Eighteen goals, seven assists, 49 games. He pressed, he linked, he finished. It was the kind of season that usually cements status, not questions it.

Last season told a different story. Three more appearances, but only nine goals and six assists. Liverpool’s attack as a whole laboured, and Gakpo was far from the only one to dip, yet he will know that those numbers do not belong to a nailed-on starter at a club with Liverpool’s ambitions.

He prefers the left. Always has. Yet 2025-26 exposed the fault lines in his partnership with Milos Kerkez. The Hungarian full-back loves to thunder past on the overlap; Gakpo, at times, drifted inside too early, clogging the central spaces and leaving the flank underused. Their understanding did improve as the season wore on, but it never fully clicked in the way Liverpool’s best wide combinations have in recent years.

Now Kerkez has been reunited with Andoni Iraola, his former Bournemouth manager, and Liverpool expect the left-back’s development to accelerate. If that relationship sharpens, it could transform the left side – and by extension, Gakpo’s effectiveness.

That is the optimistic view.

A proven scorer in a crowded room

Strip it back to the numbers and Gakpo’s Liverpool record still carries weight. Fifty goals in 180 appearances. Only Dirk Kuyt has reached a half-century among Dutchmen at Anfield before him. When fit, he has usually been first choice.

Inside the club, they still see a proven Premier League attacker who can play in different ways. With Hugo Ekitike facing a lengthy spell out, possibly until 2027, after rupturing his Achilles, Gakpo’s ability to operate centrally is no small detail for Iraola. It offers a ready-made option through the middle as Liverpool reconfigure post-Mohamed Salah.

Salah’s departure guarantees at least one more attacking signing this summer. The Diomande pursuit is gathering pace. Talented teenager Rio Ngumoha is expected to step into a more prominent role. Wirtz, shining for Germany at this World Cup off the left, is another puzzle piece Iraola must place carefully.

Where the new head coach sees Wirtz long term – as a left-sided schemer, a No 10, or something in between – could directly shape Gakpo’s future. If Wirtz owns that left channel, Gakpo may find himself shuttling between roles, or shunted down the pecking order.

Pressure or platform?

Competition has never scared Gakpo. When Luis Diaz was at Liverpool, the Dutchman often responded by raising his level, feeding off the internal rivalry. New signings can sharpen focus as much as threaten status.

This time, though, there is a new element: the genuine possibility of a move.

For the first time since he arrived from PSV Eindhoven in December 2022 for an initial £35m, serious questions are being asked about whether he might leave. Several clubs are monitoring the situation, including Tottenham Hotspur. Any deal would likely start north of £60m – a sizeable profit and the kind of figure that forces even a club like Liverpool to listen.

Gakpo’s performance against Sweden was a reminder of why that valuation is realistic. The first goal was all about timing, a classic back-post arrival and a simple tap-in. The second was pure Gakpo: cutting in from the left, shifting the ball onto his right, and drilling a low shot home with conviction.

On a night when his Liverpool team-mate Alexander Isak failed to find the net, Gakpo stole the attacking headlines.

Trusted by his country, watched by his club

Within the Dutch camp, Gakpo’s influence stretches beyond the white lines. He has become an important figure off the pitch, particularly among the Christians in the squad.

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

On the field, there is no debate. Virgil van Dijk, captain for both Netherlands and Liverpool, offered a succinct verdict 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.”

The record backs him up. Across two World Cups, Gakpo now has five goals in seven games. For the Netherlands overall, he has scored 23 times in 52 caps since his debut five years ago. Those are the numbers of a frontline international, not a squad player.

For now, his focus is entirely on the tournament. Liverpool can wait. The recruitment meetings will continue at Anfield, the spreadsheets will be updated, the scouting reports filed. But the man at the centre of the debate has other priorities.

The Gakpo decision

Liverpool’s hierarchy know how hard it can be for new attackers to adapt. Isak and Wirtz both endured uneven debut campaigns at Anfield, proof that potential does not always translate immediately into end product. That reality adds weight to the argument for keeping a versatile, settled forward who already understands the demands of the club.

Yet as Iraola and the recruitment team reshape an attack that misfired last season, something has to give. You cannot keep adding without eventually subtracting.

So the question lingers as Gakpo glides in off the left in Dutch colours, scoring, celebrating, leading prayers, and reminding everyone what he can do when the pieces around him fit.

Is he the foundation of Liverpool’s next great front line – or the valuable asset they cash in to build it?