Cody Gakpo's Liverpool Exit: A New Era Begins

Cody Gakpo’s Liverpool chapter looks to be closing, and it’s ending with a jolt rather than a gentle fade.

According to Dutch outlet Soccernews, the Netherlands forward has submitted a transfer request in the wake of Arne Slot’s sacking, convinced there is no future for him at Anfield without the coach who backed him when few others did.

From cornerstone to collateral

Gakpo arrived in January 2022 for an initial £37m, a marquee attacking addition with a sharp edge and a high ceiling. Across 180 appearances he has produced 50 goals and 23 assists, a solid return that grew in importance last season as Liverpool surged to the Premier League title in Slot’s first campaign.

Fifteen of those goal contributions came in the league during that triumphant year. Slot trusted him, leaned on him, and doubled down when the noise around Anfield grew louder. While sections of the fanbase clamoured for teenage sensation Rio Ngumoha to start, Gakpo kept his place. He became, at times, the lightning rod for frustration when performances dipped, the player many supporters couldn’t understand Slot persisting with.

This season, the mood shifted. The title defence collapsed, Liverpool slid to a fifth-place finish, and Slot paid with his job. The Dutchman is gone, Andoni Iraola is in, and one of Slot’s most loyal lieutenants appears ready to walk away.

A request on the table, a market awakening

Soccernews report that Gakpo has formally asked to leave, unwilling to stay at a club where the manager who believed in him has been removed. The timing is stark. Mohamed Salah is already heading for the exit, leaving Liverpool’s forward line at a crossroads just as another senior attacker seeks the door.

There is no shortage of interest. Atletico Madrid are named as a leading contender, with the La Liga side sounding out the possibility of bringing Gakpo to Spain as they prepare for life after Antoine Griezmann. The Frenchman is set to join MLS side Orlando City following the expiry of his Atleti contract, and the search for a replacement has begun.

Gakpo will not come cheap. He is currently valued at around €60m (£52m), and the report makes it clear that “a lot of payment will have to be made” to prise him away. But the suggestion is that a deal is far from out of reach.

Liverpool ready to listen

Crucially, Liverpool are not expected to stand in his way. TEAMtalk report that the club are open to a sale this summer and will not block his request to leave.

Slot’s faith in Gakpo had been absolute. The winger not only kept his place through periods of criticism, he also earned a lucrative new contract last year worth around £250,000 a week, tying him to the club until June 2030. That deal now looks less like a long-term foundation and more like a bargaining chip in a high-stakes transfer window.

Sources indicate that, even with Salah departing and the need for a high-calibre replacement already pressing, Liverpool are prepared to sanction Gakpo’s exit as well. It points to a radical reshaping of the forward line rather than a gentle refresh.

Back in March, before Salah’s exit became official, transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano flagged what was coming: Liverpool’s summer would revolve around their wingers. He highlighted the situations of both Salah and Gakpo and underlined the need for “something fresh” in those positions.

That freshness now looks like a necessity, not a luxury.

A rebuild with real consequences

If Gakpo gets his move and Salah’s departure proceeds as expected, Liverpool will lose two major attacking pieces in the same window. For Iraola, newly in the job, the margin for error shrinks overnight. Recruitment must be sharp. The replacements must hit the ground running. The attack that fired a title win under Slot will be ripped up and redrawn.

Gakpo’s Anfield story, once framed as a long-term project under a compatriot who trusted him, has twisted into something far more abrupt. The numbers are respectable, the medals are real, but the bond that mattered most – with the man on the touchline – has been broken.

Now the question is not whether he goes, but how Liverpool turn this looming exodus into the start of a new era rather than the beginning of a decline.