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Cody Gakpo of Liverpool(Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

An agreement is an agreement.

And, as Cody Gakpo has shown throughout the season with Liverpool, he isn't one for letting people down.

Gakpo had a wager with his brother at the start of the campaign that he would dye his hair blonde if the Reds won the Premier League title.



And sure enough, with the championship was bagged and international commitments concluded, Gakpo last week took to the peroxide for a striking new look.

With 18 goals and seven assists in 49 appearances in all competitions, the Holland international more than played his part in a successful season under new Reds head coach Arne Slot.

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A surprise, then, to be reminded Gakpo started only three of Liverpool's first 11 Premier League games and had to wait until the 1-0 win at Crystal Palace in October for his first such appearance.

The left wing was now his position, where he would challenge Luis Diaz for a starting position.

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Diaz won that battle initially, Gakpo restricted to admittedly profitable outings in the League Cup - four goals in the opening two rounds - and Champions League matches.

But when Diaz shifted to central striker in late autumn, the opening was there for Gakpo on the left flank.

He grabbed it with both hands, scoring 14 goals in 22 appearances during the heart of the campaign.

Anfield in particular was a happy hunting ground, at one point scoring in nine out of 10 successive appearances at home.

Many were important goals too, including an equaliser at home to Brighton, strikes against Real Madrid and Manchester City, and levellers against Fulham, Leicester City and Manchester United.

But an injury suffered in the 2-2 Goodison derby draw at Everton proved difficult to shake off with the forward starting just one Premier League game over the next two months and fit enough only for minimal impact in the defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United in the Champions League round of 16 and League Cup final respectively.

A fully-firing Gakpo was a big miss.

He did, though, recover sharpness sufficiently to score in the home games against Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal later in the season and assisted the final goal of the campaign for Mohamed Salah.

Liverpool's snaffling of Florian Wirtz ahead of Bayern Munich has prompted some tit-for-tat transfer talk linking the Bundesliga side with Gakpo.

With three years left on his contract, it would take a big fee to prise away the Dutchman, who perhaps feels his contribution is worthy of an improved deal on the one he signed when arriving back in January 2023.

Certainly, Gakpo has once again demonstrated he is an integral part of success for this Liverpool - and has the new locks to show for it.

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Season rating: 8


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