'Fantastic' Liverpool forward has just sent a quiet statement to Arne Slot after Alexander Isak arrival - opinion
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After successfully snaring Alexander Isak on transfer deadline day, Liverpool’s attacking options are suddenly looking much healthier.
The Reds were running the risk of going into the season light if they had not signed Isak on Monday.
Thankfully, Liverpool got the deal over the line and in doing so recorded the biggest transfer in British football history.
Isak‘s arrival has understandably generated excitement around Anfield, with the Swede expected to lead the line for Arne Slot over the next half-decade or so.
Fans online have been excitedly mocking up new designs of their best Liverpool Xs, and Isak has, of course, featured in every one.
But the arrival of such a big name centre-forward is likely to have ramifications on other members of the Liverpool squad.
While Isak has been pencilled in at centre-forward in many supporters’ dream XIs, Cody Gakpo has been shunted out of the team altogether.
But with the international break in full swing, Gakpo has now sent out a message to his head coach that he will not drop out without a fight.
Photo by Broer van den Boom/BSR Agency/Getty Images
Although Gakpo has been a very capable player for Liverpool since arriving in January 2023, he is occasionally earmarked as being an expendable attacker.
The same was true last season when he was rotating in and out of the team with Luis Diaz, and Isak’s arrival has cast further doubt over his place in Slot’s regular XI.
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The suggestion from some areas has been that Isak and Hugo Ekitike can play together through the middle of the Liverpool attack.
But that leaves question marks over the roles of Florian Wirtz and Mohamed Salah.
So, it feels more likely at this stage that Ekitike will start as the nominal left winger, drifting in-field to support Isak while Milos Kerkez raids up and down the line.
In that scenario, Gakpo is reduced to the part of impact player from the bench.
However, with all the noise surrounding Isak, Gakpo put in an excellent performance for the Netherlands against Poland on Thursday.
The 26-year-old was hailed as his country’s star man, and although they could only draw with the Poles, Gakpo is said to have been a ‘menacing’ presence throughout.
He has been written off a few too many times before in his short Liverpool career, but anyone doubting that Gakpo can still get in this Reds team could well be sadly mistaken.
Despite the mouth-watering prospect of Ekitike and Isak partnering together, it remains a fact that the only natural, senior left winger in Slot’s squad is Gakpo.
Federico Chiesa can play out there, Rio Ngumoha is emerging and then there’s Ekitike, but Gakpo is comfortably the most established.
SeasonAppearancesGoalsAssists2022/2326722023/24531662024/25491862025/26412Cody Gakpo at Liverpool
As Liverpool fans saw in 2024/25, Slot does like to rotate his forward options a little and will regularly bring impact players off the bench with large parts of games left.
As a result, whether he is starting or coming on later in the match, Gakpo will still play a massive role for Liverpool this season.
He may not be the flashiest name at Liverpool, but Gakpo is ‘fantastic‘ and has improved hugely since his arrival two-and-a-half years ago.