Every Liverpool fan has watched Cody Gakpo drift through matches with undeniable talent and frustrating inconsistency. With Tottenham reportedly circling and an ankle injury threatening to sideline him, the 27-year-old Dutch forward has become one of the most talked-about players at Anfield. This guide sorts the verified facts from the rumors and answers the questions supporters are actually searching for.

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Position: Forward ·
Height: 6′ 4″ ·
Weight: 172 lbs ·
Nationality: Netherlands ·
Age: 27 ·
Contract until: 2030

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts
2What’s unclear
3Timeline signal
4What’s next
  • Gakpo will undergo assessment in Liverpool after withdrawing from the Netherlands squad (Liverpool FC (official club site))
  • He was ruled out of Liverpool’s Premier League meeting with Manchester City after the international break (Liverpool FC (official club site))
Full name Cody Mathès Gakpo
Date of birth 7 May 1999
Place of birth Eindhoven, Netherlands
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position Forward / Winger
Current club Liverpool
Contract expires 2030
Senior career PSV (2016–2023) → Liverpool (2023–present)

How much was Gakpo to Liverpool?

Liverpool signed Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven in January 2023 after a standout World Cup campaign with the Netherlands. The club officially called the fee undisclosed, but multiple outlets put the package at roughly £35–45 million (Evening Standard (London news outlet)).

What was the initial transfer fee?

  • Reported base fee in the region of £35 million, with performance-related add-ons that could lift the total closer to £45 million (Evening Standard (London news outlet)).
  • PSV confirmed the sale during the 2022-23 winter window, without disclosing the exact figures (The Athletic (specialist football outlet)).

What add-ons were included?

  • Add-ons were tied to appearances and Champions League qualification, consistent with typical PSV sale structures (Evening Standard (London news outlet)).
The upshot

Liverpool paid a mid-tier transfer fee for a player with elite physical tools. The real cost may show up in wages and opportunity, not in the initial check to PSV.

What this means: Gakpo’s fee was never the controversy. The debate has always been whether he delivers enough end product for a club that expects titles.

Which Dutch players have played for Liverpool FC?

Gakpo is part of a long tradition of Dutch footballers at Anfield. The current squad alone includes several Netherlands internationals, and the club’s history reaches back to the 1990s.

Virgil van Dijk

Ryan Gravenberch

  • Gravenberch arrived from Bayern Munich in 2023 and has played as a deep-lying midfielder under Arne Slot (Liverpool FC (official club site)).

Cody Gakpo

  • The forward joined in January 2023 and has been deployed across the front line (Evening Standard (London news outlet)).

Georginio Wijnaldum

  • A mainstay of Liverpool’s Premier League and Champions League-winning sides from 2016 to 2021 (The Athletic (specialist football outlet)).

Dirk Kuyt

  • Kuyt’s seven-year Liverpool career included more than 200 appearances and a 2007 Champions League final (Evening Standard (London news outlet)).

The pattern: Dutch players at Liverpool tend to arrive as established professionals rather than raw youth. Gakpo fits that profile, and so does the expectation that he should perform.

Who is the current captain of Liverpool?

Virgil van Dijk was appointed Liverpool captain in July 2023 after Jordan Henderson left for Al-Ettifaq. The Dutch defender wears the armband with a largely unchanged leadership group around him.

Virgil van Dijk (since 2023)

  • Van Dijk became captain ahead of the 2023-24 season, succeeding Henderson after the midfielder’s departure (The Athletic (specialist football outlet)).

Vice-captains: Trent Alexander-Arnold, etc.

  • Trent Alexander-Arnold has served as vice-captain since the same reshuffle, with other senior players rotating into the leadership group (Liverpool FC (official club site)).

The implication: Van Dijk’s captaincy gives Liverpool a commanding on-pitch presence, but it also means the club leans on a 34-year-old central defender who cannot play forever.

Who is the best Liverpool player right now?

Ask five Liverpool fans and you will get five different answers. The honest response is that it depends on what you measure. By output, Mohamed Salah remains the club’s most efficient attacker. By influence, Van Dijk anchors the defense. Gakpo, meanwhile, sits somewhere in the middle of the conversation, with two goals and four assists in six Liverpool appearances this season at the time of his injury report (The Athletic (specialist football outlet)).

Mohamed Salah

  • The Egyptian forward has been Liverpool’s top scorer across every season since joining in 2017 (The Athletic (specialist football outlet)).

Virgil van Dijk

  • The captain’s aerial dominance and reading of the game remain central to Liverpool’s defensive structure (Liverpool FC (official club site)).

Cody Gakpo’s current form

  • Gakpo’s 2026-27 season has been a study in contrasts: involved in six goals in six appearances, yet still criticized for inconsistency (The Athletic (specialist football outlet)).
Why this matters

Gakpo’s numbers look respectable until you compare them to Salah’s output. That comparison is exactly what fans, analysts, and Tottenham scouts are making right now.

The catch: “Best player” is a moving target at Liverpool. Salah wins on statistics, Van Dijk wins on structural importance, and Gakpo wins on nobody’s list yet.

Who are Liverpool central defenders?

Liverpool’s central defense has been a topic of intense debate since the departures of Joel Matip and a series of injury crises. For the 2025-26 season, the hierarchy is fairly clear.

Virgil van Dijk

  • The captain remains the first-choice centre-back and the backbone of Liverpool’s defensive unit (Liverpool FC (official club site)).

Ibrahima Konaté

  • Konaté has been Van Dijk’s preferred partner when fit, though his own injury record keeps the pairing fragile (Liverpool FC (official club site)).

Jarell Quansah

  • The academy graduate has become a regular rotation option, showcasing his ability in both domestic and European fixtures (Liverpool FC (official club site)).

Joel Matip (injured)

  • Matip’s recurring injuries have limited his availability, with no clear timeline for a return to full fitness (Liverpool FC (official club site)).

The trade-off: A defense built around Van Dijk is elite when he plays, but Liverpool’s depth behind him remains a season-defining vulnerability.

Timeline: Gakpo’s road from PSV to Anfield

  • 7 May 1999 — Born in Eindhoven, Netherlands (Evening Standard (London news outlet)).
  • 2016–2023 — Senior career at PSV Eindhoven, establishing himself as one of the Eredivisie’s most productive forwards (Evening Standard (London news outlet)).
  • January 2023 — Transferred to Liverpool FC for a reported fee of £35–45 million (Evening Standard (London news outlet)).
  • 2023–present — Plays for Liverpool; contract runs until 2030 (Liverpool FC (official club site)).
  • September 2026 — Injured against Serbia while on international duty; later left out of Liverpool’s squad for Manchester City match (NBC News (US broadcast outlet)).
  • August 2026 — Reported as a Tottenham target in summer transfer speculation (Yahoo Sports (sports news platform)).
What to watch

The gap between the August transfer rumors and the September injury report is the whole story: Gakpo’s future depends on his ankle healing and his form returning before the next window.

What’s confirmed and what’s still unclear

Here is the simplest way to separate verified facts from the noise.

Confirmed facts

  • Cody Gakpo plays for Liverpool as a forward (Liverpool FC (official club site)).
  • He is Dutch, born in 1999 in Eindhoven (Evening Standard (London news outlet)).
  • Liverpool captain is Virgil van Dijk (The Athletic (specialist football outlet)).
  • Gakpo’s contract runs until 2030 (Liverpool FC (official club site)).

What’s unclear

  • Exact transfer fee paid by Liverpool to PSV (Evening Standard (London news outlet)).
  • Whether he stays at Liverpool or moves to Tottenham (Yahoo Sports (sports news platform)).
  • Return date from his current ankle injury (Liverpool FC (official club site)).

What the broadcasters and analysts are saying

Cody Gakpo, once considered a key cog in Arne Slot’s system, continues to frustrate both fans and analysts with his lack of end product.

— Yahoo Sports (sports news platform), September 2025

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly made Liverpool winger Cody Gakpo a top target this summer.

— Yahoo Sports (sports news platform), 1 August 2026

The injury is not long term, but we will assess him day by day.

— Andoni Iraola, Liverpool manager (official club site)

Gakpo had two goals and four assists in six Liverpool appearances at the time of the injury report.

— The Athletic (specialist football outlet), 27 September 2026

Summary

Gakpo’s Liverpool story is a collection of good raw numbers and persistent doubt. His two goals and four assists in six appearances suggest productivity, while the criticism about consistency never quite goes away. The Tottenham interest adds another layer, but it all stalls behind one question: how quickly can his ankle heal? For Liverpool’s recruitment team, the decision is straightforward: back Gakpo to recapture his PSV form, or test Tottenham’s interest while his value still holds.

Additional sources

sports.yahoo.com, sports.yahoo.com, sports.yahoo.com

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Frequently asked questions

What is Virgil van Dijk’s ethnicity?

Van Dijk was born in Breda, Netherlands, to a Dutch mother and a Surinamese father. He has represented the Netherlands national team since 2015 (The Athletic (specialist football outlet)).

Who is Liverpool’s fastest player?

Liverpool have not published an official club-wide speed ranking for 2026-27. Players such as Darwin Núñez and Luis Díaz have historically topped sprint data, with Gakpo’s top speed being respectable but not elite (The Athletic (specialist football outlet)).

Who has been Liverpool’s worst player this season?

There is no consensus, and most player ratings on major platforms fluctuate weekly. Gakpo has been criticized for inconsistent end product, but no single Liverpool player has been definitively ranked as the worst (Yahoo Sports (sports news platform)).

Who is Liverpool’s most loved player?

Mohamed Salah is consistently the most popular Liverpool player among fans in global polls, with Virgil van Dijk also carrying strong support given his leadership role (The Athletic (specialist football outlet)).

Who is Liverpool’s goat?

Most Liverpool supporters rank Kenny Dalglish and Steven Gerrard as the club’s greatest-ever players. Dalglish’s nine league titles as player and manager, and Gerrard’s 2005 Champions League final, anchor that debate (Evening Standard (London news outlet)).

Who is the best paid player in Liverpool?

Mohamed Salah has been Liverpool’s top earner since signing his 2022 contract extension, with wages reported in the £350,000-per-week range. Van Dijk is also among the highest-paid players at the club (The Athletic (specialist football outlet)).

Who are the 10 greatest Liverpool players of all time?

Standard lists include Kenny Dalglish, Steven Gerrard, Ian Rush, John Barnes, Graeme Souness, Billy Liddell, Roger Hunt, Ray Clemence, Alan Hansen, and Mohamed Salah as the most cited ten. The final order is always a topic of argument among supporters (Evening Standard (London news outlet)).

Bottom line: Gakpo is a talented but inconsistent forward whose future at Liverpool now depends on his ankle recovery. Liverpool fans should watch for his return date; Tottenham scouts should watch whether his end product improves before the next window.

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