Tottenham Targets Liverpool's Cody Gakpo as Roberto De Zerbi Chases Attacking Reinforcements

Tottenham Hotspur is chasing Cody Gakpo, and the price tag is steep.

According to football.london, Liverpool wants at least £60 million for the 27-year-old Dutch forward, whom the club signed from PSV Eindhoven for just £40 million in December 2022. Gakpo's contract at Anfield runs through June 2030, meaning Liverpool has no urgency to sell cheap.

If Spurs pay that fee, Gakpo becomes the fourth most expensive departure in Liverpool's history, trailing only Luis Diaz's £65.5 million move to Bayern Munich last year, Luis Suarez's £75 million transfer to Barcelona in 2014, and Philippe Coutinho's roughly £140 million sale to Barcelona in January 2018.

Why De Zerbi wants him

Roberto De Zerbi has been blunt about his priorities this summer. "The target now is to complete the attacking positions," he said during Tottenham's pre-season tour of Australia, according to football.london. He later teased a marquee addition, telling reporters, "We completed 60 per cent of our project in the transfer market. Now we have another bomba... In the transfer market, when I want one player, I become like a shark. No chance to say no."

VI, the Dutch outlet cited in football.london's reporting, says De Zerbi views Gakpo as an "exceptional player" and the "missing link" in his frontline.

Gakpo isn't a conventional winger. Per the BBC, although he's played most of his Liverpool football from the left, he's also filled in as a central striker, false nine, and second forward for both club and country. That flexibility matters to De Zerbi, whose system typically asks the centre forward to vacate central areas, combine with midfielders, and open space for wide players to run into. The BBC reports Gakpo has the technical quality and positional intelligence to play that exact role.

For Tottenham specifically, that versatility solves a roster problem. Dominic Solanke and Mathys Tel are both natural central strikers. Neither offers the same ability to shift seamlessly between the wing and the middle that Gakpo does.

The numbers back up the interest

Gakpo's 2025-26 season split opinion among Liverpool fans. Seven Premier League goals marked his lowest return in a full season at Anfield, according to the BBC.

But the underlying data tells a different story. The BBC reports that only seven wingers across Europe's top five leagues averaged more touches in the opposition penalty area than Gakpo's 2.2 per 90 minutes last season. He also ranked inside the top 10 among wide players for both open-play shots and chances created.

His percentile rankings compared to positional peers across the top five European leagues are striking: 98th percentile for shot frequency, 96th percentile for advanced involvement, 91st percentile for box threat, per the BBC's data. Very few wide players got involved in dangerous attacking situations as often as Gakpo did last season.

One stat stands out for a different reason. Gakpo was caught offside 30 times in the Premier League last season, more than any other player, according to the BBC. That reflects a player constantly attacking the space behind defenses rather than just receiving the ball in front of them. It could be evidence of aggressive movement or evidence of a forward whose timing needs work.

The obstacles

Liverpool isn't eager to sell. The Reds are already pursuing Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola, but even if that deal goes through, losing Gakpo would still cost them one of their most experienced attackers, per the BBC. That's especially true with Mohamed Salah gone and Hugo Ekitike still recovering from an Achilles injury.

Money is the other issue. Tottenham has already committed £237 million this summer on three defenders, two midfielders, and a goalkeeper, according to football.london. Getting Gakpo done would push total spending toward £300 million. The club has offset some of that through sales, closing in on £100 million recouped this summer via departures including Ashley Phillips to Middlesbrough and Will Lankshear to Boro, per football.london's live coverage.

Spurs are also chasing other targets simultaneously, including Galatasaray winger Baris Yilmaz, Victor Osimhen, and Manchester City's Savinho, according to football.london. Not all of those deals can happen. Whether Gakpo becomes the priority or gets squeezed out by competing spending is still an open question as the transfer window continues.

No agreement between the two clubs has been reported. The next concrete marker will be whether Tottenham actually meets Liverpool's £60 million valuation, or whether Johan Lange looks elsewhere given how much of the summer budget is already spent.