The Gakpo Conundrum: Should Liverpool Sell Him or Keep Him?

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He got caught offside more than anyone else in the Premier League (30 times) which sounds like a criticism until you realise it's mostly a byproduct of him constantly trying to get beyond the last defender rather than just receiving the ball with his back to goal. That's not a player short on ‘end product’.

Then there's the physical side of his game, which barely gets a mention when people talk about him. Gakpo was one of Arne Slot's most trusted attackers, but Slot's gone and Andoni Iraola's in, and by most accounts Gakpo isn't the untouchable figure under the new manager that he was a year ago.

But the counterargument is the more obvious one, and it's hard to ignore – Salah's gone, Ekitike's still working back from an Achilles injury, and Liverpool are still chasing Barcola rather than having him signed and settled. Whatever the eye test says about a quiet season, the underlying trend across roles, managers and formations has stayed remarkably steady – which is exactly why Iraola's reluctance to wave him off makes just as much sense as Tottenham's interest in buying.