By OkayGoal 
Roberto De Zerbi wants Cody Gakpo at Tottenham this summer. Liverpool are not keen to sell. The fee is steep. And Spurs have no European football to offer. Here is the full breakdown of whether this deal makes any sense at all.
The report from Sport Witness, citing Dutch outlet Soccer News, landed on the morning of June 5: Roberto De Zerbi is hoping to convince Cody Gakpo to swap Liverpool for Tottenham this summer. Spurs are working behind the scenes, drawing up a plan, confident that the post-Arne Slot exodus from Anfield creates an opportunity. The Dutch national team angle is real with Xavi Simons and Micky van de Ven already at the club, Gakpo would find a ready-made support network of international teammates at N17.
But is Cody Gakpo actually the right player for what Tottenham are trying to build? That is the question that deserves a proper answer. Not a hot take. A real one.
Let’s look at Cody Gakpo for once…
His strongest attribute is the combination of size and technique that is genuinely unusual in a wide forward. Former Liverpool star Bolo Zenden, who worked closely with him at PSV, described his ceiling as a player capable of 15 goals and 15 assists from the left. His PSV numbers backed that up completely: in 2021/22, he registered 21 goals and 15 assists in 46 appearances. The profile is that of a left winger who cuts inside onto his right foot, powerful, direct, technically sound, and tactically intelligent in finding pockets between the lines.
WhoScored rates his key passes as a clear strength, alongside his aerial duels and finishing. His weaknesses: crossing and a tendency to be caught offside. His preferred style is to cut inside from the left which is precisely the profile that De Zerbi has historically built his wide attack around at Brighton (i.e. Mitoma).
Gakpo Attribute Profile (WhoScored / FootyStats 2025/26)
| Attribute | Rating | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Aerial Ability | 88 | Strong |
| Key Passes | 82 | Strong |
| Finishing | 79 | Strong |
| Dribbling | 74 | Above Average |
| Positional Awareness | 71 | Above Average |
| Crossing | 42 | Weak |
His worst season at Liverpool but the numbers are more nuanced than they look
Seven goals and five assists in 36 Premier League appearances. It is a modest return, and by Gakpo’s own standards it represents a significant step down from his 2024/25 campaign, where he contributed 10 goals and four assists across 35 league games. Sport Witness explicitly described this as “one of his most difficult seasons to date.” Liverpool’s collective underperformance played a big part, the defending champions finished mid-table in a chaotic year under a post-Slot regime that never found its footing.
But the underlying data offers real mitigation. Gakpo’s non-penalty expected goals per 90 of 0.34 places him in the 89th percentile of Premier League players meaning he is generating high-quality chances and simply not converting at his usual rate. His positional awareness metric ranks 26th in the entire Premier League. His dangerous attack initiation rate ranks 27th. These are not the numbers of a player in terminal decline. They are the numbers of a player in a struggling team whose output will naturally rise in a better environment.
Gakpo Career Stats by Season
| Season | Club | Apps | Goals | Assists | G+A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | PSV Eindhoven | 46 | 21 | 15 | 36 |
| 2022/23 | PSV / Liverpool | 35 | 16 | 14 | 30 |
| 2023/24 | Liverpool | 43 | 12 | 5 | 17 |
| 2024/25 | Liverpool | 43 | 18 | 5 | 23 |
| 2025/26 | Liverpool | 52 | 9 | 6 | 15 |
* 2025/26 figures are his worst across all seasons at Liverpool. Context: Liverpool finished mid-table after a turbulent post-Slot transitional year.
Does Gakpo Actually Suit What De Zerbi Is Building at Spurs?
This is the crux of it, and the answer is genuinely interesting. De Zerbi’s system at Brighton was defined by wide players who were comfortable coming inside, linking play in tight spaces and operating in half-spaces between the lines. Kaoru Mitoma, Solly March, Simon Adingra these were players who dribbled, pressed, and created from unconventional angles. They were not traditional wide men who hugged the touchline and crossed. They were inverted, intelligent, and relentless.
Gakpo fits the first part of that profile precisely. He cuts inside, he operates in half-spaces, and he is tactically sophisticated enough to understand positional nuance. His intelligence in finding pockets between lines was identified as his defining characteristic long before Liverpool signed him. Former Netherlands defender Frank de Boer described his optimal role as “starting on the left and coming inside” which is the exact profile De Zerbi values most.
The question mark is intensity. De Zerbi’s system demands relentless pressing, high work rate and the willingness to defend from the front. At PSV, Gakpo’s work rate off the ball was cited as an area for development. At Liverpool, operating in a team that has struggled to maintain defensive shape, those questions have not been answered clearly. Tottenham’s rebuild under De Zerbi will demand that every forward presses as aggressively as they attack. If Gakpo can commit to that, the fit is strong. If he defaults to coasting, it becomes a problem quickly.
“He has the ability to score easily with his right foot coming in from the left, he has the speed, the dribbling, and his mind is also very good. His potential, he is one of the biggest talents in Holland.” – Frank de Boer
Building a dutch spine at Hotspur Way
Tottenham already have Micky van de Ven and Xavi Simons. They are closing in on Jan Paul Van Hecke. With Gakpo, that would be four Dutch internationals at the club more than any other Premier League side. Sport Witness reported this explicitly as part of Spurs’ appeal to the player. It is not a gimmick; it is a genuine cultural and communication advantage that accelerates squad cohesion in a rebuild.
De Zerbi himself is the other key variable. The Italian coach worked with Gakpo in international preparation and knows his profile intimately. When a manager who knows a player’s game wants them specifically, that conviction usually translates into the right environment for the player to thrive. Gakpo would not be arriving at Tottenham as a squad player. He would be arriving as a first-choice attacking starter under a manager who already knows exactly how to use him.
Tottenham’s Emerging Dutch Core
| Player | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Micky van de Ven | Centre-back | Already signed |
| Xavi Simons | Central Midfielder | Already signed |
| Jan Paul Van Hecke | Centre-back | In pursuit |
| Cody Gakpo | Left Winger | Transfer target |
Is this deal realistic for Tottenham to pursue?
Liverpool hold significant power here. Gakpo signed a new deal at Anfield in August 2025, tying him to the club until 2030. His market value sits at approximately 60 million euros. Liverpool have no financial pressure to sell, and with a new manager arriving post-Slot, there is a reasonable argument that Gakpo’s dip in form reflects circumstances rather than ability, making him worth keeping for the new regime to reassess.
The counterargument is equally reasonable: at 27, Gakpo enters the summer having had his most difficult season, at a club in transition, with limited certainty over his role under whoever replaces Slot. If a firm offer arrives from a club where a coach who knows him well guarantees him regular football, the personal terms conversation becomes interesting quickly. Soccer News reports that Tottenham are already working on exactly that conversation.
The stumbling block is Tottenham’s budget. A club that has spent two seasons in relegation trouble does not easily find 60 million euros for a winger who just managed seven Premier League goals. If De Zerbi can sell the project convincingly, and if Liverpool’s valuation softens given the contract dynamics and the player’s poor season, a deal somewhere in the 45 to 50 million euro range is not impossible. But it is far from straightforward.
| The Case For | The Case Against |
|---|---|
| 180 Liverpool appearances and 50 goals, proven Premier League quality | Worst season of his Liverpool career: 7 PL goals in 36 apps raises real questions |
| Profile perfectly suited to De Zerbi’s inverted winger system | Liverpool contract until 2030. 60 million euros is steep for a rebuilding Spurs |
| Dutch national team cohesion with Van de Ven, Simons and Van Hecke already at the club | Work rate and pressing intensity off the ball has historically been questioned |
| De Zerbi knows him personally and specifically wants him in his system | Several clubs across England, Spain and Germany also interested (auction risk) |
| Poor 25/26 season largely explained by Liverpool’s collective struggles, not individual decline | Tottenham without European football, a major obstacle in convincing Gakpo to join |
| npxG in the 89th percentile, creates top-quality chances regardless of conversion rate | At 27, resale value diminishes quickly if the move does not work out for either party |
Author Opinion
Gakpo is a good signing for Tottenham, not a perfect one. The tactical profile is right, the Dutch cohesion angle is real, and the De Zerbi relationship is the kind of personal conviction that usually makes transfers work. But the fee is steep for a player coming off his worst season, the absence of European football is a genuine obstacle, and the pressing demands of De Zerbi’s system require a commitment from Gakpo that has never been consistently demonstrated at Liverpool.
If the fee can be negotiated down to the 45 to 50 million euro range, and if De Zerbi genuinely builds the attack around him, this could be one of those deals that looks very clever in twelve months. At 60 million euros for a 27-year-old in a down season, without Champions League football on offer, it carries real risk.
The signing is not madness. But it is not a certainty either. It is, like most things at Tottenham right now, a project that needs everything to go right.
