Liverpool's Transfer Focus: Replacing Salah and Gakpo's Future
Liverpool’s transfer window was always going to be about one thing: replacing Mohamed Salah’s one-v-one genius out wide. He walked away on a free, and the hole he left in that right flank still gapes.
Victor Munoz is in the building, signed from Osasuna after Liverpool triggered the Spain World Cup winner’s £34 million release clause. A sharp, decisive move from Richard Hughes. But nobody at Anfield is pretending the job is done.
This rebuild out wide is only just getting started.
Liverpool push for Barcola and Minteh
Liverpool have at least two more wide forwards in their sights, and the scale of their ambition is clear.
Bradley Barcola has been the No. 1 target since the club backed away from a move for Yan Diomande. The 23-year-old Paris Saint-Germain winger fits the brief: direct, dangerous, and capable of taking on defenders in isolation. The problem is the price.
PSG have set an eye-watering starting figure of £145 million before they will even think about letting him go. That number alone explains why this pursuit is complicated and why Liverpool’s next moves in the market could be decisive.
Just as that chase rumbles on, Liverpool have also opened up talks for Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh. The 22-year-old Gambian, a left-footer who can operate across the frontline, has already been the subject of two Liverpool bids: £50 million and £60 million.
Brighton, typically stubborn and shrewd, are holding their line. The message is simple: £70 million or he stays. Until that number lands on the table, the Seagulls are not inclined to sell.
At those figures, Liverpool’s next step feels obvious. To go big on Barcola or Minteh, they will almost certainly need to sell.
Gakpo emerges as the sacrifice
That brings the focus sharply onto Cody Gakpo.
The Dutch forward, on wages of around £250,000 per week, is increasingly being framed as the player Liverpool could sacrifice to unlock their winger rebuild. A fee of £72 million has been floated in relation to a move to Tottenham.
Gakpo, 27, has been admired for a long time by Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi, who is in the middle of an aggressive overhaul of his attack. Manchester City pair Savinho and Omar Marmoush are already lined up to feature for Spurs this season, and Gakpo is viewed as the final piece in that new-look frontline.
Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has now suggested that a deal taking Gakpo to Tottenham could be very close.
“Don’t forget Cody Gakpo, because Savinho is going to Tottenham in London for medical tests and contract signing,” he told his YouTube audience.
“Omar Marmoush is expected to go to Tottenham as a centre striker, and he’s a target that is probably going to happen in the next days, as I told you.
“But I told you always: right winger, left winger, centre striker. This was what I told you about Tottenham. And for the left winger, the name remains Cody Gakpo.
“Tottenham are working on it. Tottenham are working on the player side. Player terms are not an issue. And then Tottenham remain absolutely on it on the club side with Liverpool.
“So, Gakpo to Tottenham could be over in the next days if the total deal can be agreed.”
If those words hold, Liverpool are close to a major outgoing.
From title high to uncertain future
Gakpo arrived from PSV in January 2023 and played a significant part in Liverpool’s 2024/25 Premier League title-winning campaign, adapting across the frontline and delivering in key moments.
The most recent season told a very different story. Performances dipped, consistency vanished, and sections of the fanbase began calling for a more ruthless approach in attack and for Gakpo to be upgraded.
That mood, combined with the scale of Liverpool’s current targets, has pushed him towards the exit door.
If Liverpool can finally strike a deal with PSG for Barcola, the Frenchman would be expected to take Gakpo’s place in the squad hierarchy on the left. Andoni Iraola already has Rio Ngumoha and Munoz available for that flank, giving him options and flexibility as he reshapes the front line.
Liverpool’s plan is clear: inject elite one-v-one quality out wide, even if it means losing a title-winning forward to a direct Premier League rival.
Now the question is simple. Will Gakpo’s departure be the key that unlocks the next great Liverpool attack, or a gamble that hands Spurs exactly what they need?
