Iraola’s Message Is Clear: Gakpo Isn’t Going Anywhere, Even With Barcola On The Way
Liverpool’s transfer window has produced one plot twist after another this summer, but the storyline dominating Merseyside conversation right now isn’t really about who’s arriving — it’s about who might be staying. As reports of a breakthrough in Liverpool’s pursuit of Bradley Barcola continue to circulate, the assumption among plenty of fans has been that Cody Gakpo’s days at Anfield are numbered. Andoni Iraola, though, appears to be pushing back on that narrative, and if the comments attributed to him on social media this week are accurate in spirit, the Spanish coach wants supporters to understand one thing above all else: Barcola’s arrival does not automatically mean Gakpo’s departure.
The framing of Gakpo as a makeweight in this deal has always felt slightly off given how the Dutchman has actually performed. Since returning from international duty, Gakpo has looked sharp, direct, and consistently involved in Liverpool’s attacking play. Reports from Iraola’s press conference this week backed that up directly, with the manager stating that Gakpo has been playing very well and has been good since coming back from the World Cup, adding that he hopes the forward can maintain that level. That is not the language of a coach preparing to wave goodbye to one of his most productive attackers. It’s the language of someone who values a player and wants to keep building around him, even as the club works to add more depth and competition elsewhere in the final days of the window.
Where things get more complicated is in the finances and structure of the deal itself. Barcola, still only in his early twenties, has emerged as one of the most sought-after wide forwards in Europe, and Liverpool have reportedly agreed a fee in the region of £100 million, potentially rising close to £120 million with performance add-ons, to prise him away from Paris Saint-Germain. That is an enormous investment, and it inevitably raises questions about squad balance. Liverpool already have plenty of attacking talent on the books, and adding another forward of Barcola’s caliber naturally puts pressure on the depth chart. It’s the kind of signing that, on paper, looks like it should push somebody out the door. The assumption has been that Gakpo, given his versatility and his market value, would be the most logical candidate to make way, especially with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City reportedly keeping tabs on his situation throughout the window.
But assumptions built purely on transfer logic often miss the human and tactical elements that actually drive a manager’s decision-making, and this appears to be exactly the kind of situation where that gap matters. If the quotes making the rounds are to be believed, Iraola has been direct about his intentions: he wants to keep Gakpo, and more importantly, he says Gakpo wants to stay too. There’s a simplicity to that framing that cuts through a lot of the transfer-window noise. Clubs and managers can talk all they want about squad depth and financial flexibility, but when a player is happy, performing, and has expressed no desire to leave, dragging him out the door just to balance a spreadsheet rarely makes sense from a football perspective. Iraola seems to be signaling that he’s not interested in making a move purely because it would look tidy on paper.
That doesn’t mean the situation is without nuance. Barcola operates predominantly from the left, which is also the zone where Gakpo has spent much of his Liverpool career since arriving from PSV. On the surface, that positional overlap is precisely why so many assumed a straight swap was coming — one left-sided attacker in, one left-sided attacker out. What the reported comments suggest, though, is a more creative solution than a straightforward one-for-one swap. Rather than treating Gakpo purely as a left winger who’s suddenly been rendered surplus by Barcola’s arrival, Iraola appears to be planning to use his versatility as a strength rather than a liability. The suggestion is that Gakpo could be deployed as auxiliary cover through the middle, offering a different profile than Alexander Isak when the Swedish striker needs a rest or when matches call for a mobile, technical false nine rather than a more traditional target man.
That kind of positional fluidity isn’t new for Gakpo. Long before he became a fixture on Liverpool’s left flank, he was deployed centrally at PSV, where his combination of close control, movement between the lines, and composure in tight spaces made him a nightmare for defenders trying to track him. It’s not a stretch to imagine those same attributes translating well to a false nine role in a Premier League side, particularly one that likes to press aggressively and create space through quick combinations rather than relying purely on aerial presence up front. If Iraola genuinely believes Gakpo can offer something different from Isak in that central role, it gives Liverpool a tactical wrinkle that very few other Premier League sides can call upon — a genuine goal threat who can operate as an out-and-out striker or drift wide depending on what the game demands.
Then there’s the reported suggestion that Gakpo has been impressing in a completely different area of the pitch during training: as an attacking midfielder. That’s a notable departure from how most fans have come to think of him. Gakpo built his reputation and his market value as a wide forward who cuts inside onto his stronger foot, so the idea of him operating centrally behind the striker, dictating tempo and picking passes rather than running in behind, represents a genuine evolution in how his manager sees him. Whether that eventually becomes a regular feature of Liverpool’s setup or remains more of a training-ground experiment used sparingly in matches remains to be seen, but the mere fact that it’s being discussed publicly suggests Iraola sees more in Gakpo’s game than a one-dimensional winger who’s about to be squeezed out by a more expensive alternative.
Put those pieces together and you get a picture of a player being reimagined rather than phased out. Instead of Gakpo simply losing his starting spot to Barcola and drifting toward a move away from Anfield, the plan being floated has him rotating across four different positions: right wing, attacking midfield, second striker, and false nine. That’s an unusually broad remit for any single player, and it says a great deal about how highly Iraola rates Gakpo’s footballing intelligence. Managers don’t typically hand out that kind of positional freedom to players they see as squad filler. They reserve it for players they trust to read the game, adjust their movement instinctively, and still produce end product regardless of where they’re asked to operate. If Liverpool genuinely intend to use Gakpo in this way, it effectively transforms him from “the winger who might get replaced” into one of the most tactically valuable pieces in the entire squad.
There’s also a practical, calendar-driven logic behind wanting to keep as many high-quality attacking options as possible. Liverpool’s fixture list, like that of every club competing across multiple competitions, is unforgiving. Between the Premier League, domestic cups, and European commitments, squads are stretched thin by December, and injuries or suspensions can derail a season if there isn’t enough quality cover to plug the gaps. Having a player capable of legitimately filling four different attacking roles isn’t a luxury in that context — it’s practically a necessity. Rotation isn’t just about giving players rest; it’s about maintaining a consistent level of performance even when first-choice options aren’t available, and a forward who can shift seamlessly between the wing, the number ten role, and a central striking position gives a manager options that a more rigid, single-position player simply can’t provide.
None of this is to say the situation is entirely settled or that speculation about Gakpo’s future will disappear overnight. Transfer windows have a way of generating stories that shift by the hour, and interest from clubs like Tottenham and Manchester City doesn’t simply evaporate because a manager expresses public confidence in a player. If either of those clubs were to make an eye-catching offer before the deadline, Liverpool’s hierarchy would presumably have to weigh that against the football department’s wishes, and transfer business is rarely shaped by a single voice in isolation. Boardrooms think about valuations, contract situations, and long-term financial planning in ways that don’t always align neatly with what a head coach wants from a tactical standpoint. So while Iraola’s messaging paints a clear picture of intent, supporters would be forgiven for reserving full confidence until the transfer window actually closes without incident.
Still, there’s something refreshing about a manager pushing back on the reflexive assumption that a new signing must mean an existing player is expendable. Modern football discourse, especially on social media, tends to reduce roster construction to simple equations: one in, one out. It’s tidy, it’s easy to package into a headline, and it fits the pace at which transfer content circulates during deadline week. But squad building rarely works that cleanly in practice, and Iraola’s comments serve as a reminder that managers are often thinking several steps ahead of the narrative being constructed around them by outside observers. Where fans see a straightforward swap, a coach might see an opportunity to deepen his tactical options and get more out of two talented players rather than choosing between them.
For Gakpo specifically, this vote of confidence arrives at a moment when his stock within the fanbase has arguably never been higher. He’s shown consistent end product, adapted to different systems, and by all accounts kept his head down and let his performances do the talking rather than agitating for a move elsewhere, even amid swirling transfer talk. Players who handle that kind of speculation with professionalism tend to earn extra loyalty from supporters, and it’s easy to see why Liverpool’s fanbase would be relieved to hear that his manager wants him around rather than viewing him as a bargaining chip to help fund other business. There’s a reason clubs value squad culture and continuity — players who feel secure and valued tend to perform better than those constantly wondering if they’re one bad week away from being shown the door.
Barcola’s potential arrival, meanwhile, doesn’t need to come at Gakpo’s expense to be considered a success. If Liverpool are indeed close to finalizing a deal worth well over £100 million for the Frenchman, it represents one of the most significant investments in the club’s recent history, and expectations will understandably be sky-high. But the presence of a talented young forward doesn’t automatically diminish the value of players already contributing at a high level; if anything, healthy competition for places tends to raise the overall standard across a squad, provided the manager can keep everyone motivated and rotated fairly. Iraola’s comments suggest he’s already thinking about how to make that balance work rather than simply hoping it sorts itself out organically once the transfer dust settles.
It’s also worth remembering that false nine and central attacking roles have become increasingly valuable in the modern game precisely because they offer tactical unpredictability. Defenses that are used to tracking a winger running in behind can be thrown off entirely by a forward who instead drops deep, links play, and draws center-backs out of position. If Gakpo can genuinely operate in that mold when called upon, it gives Liverpool a different attacking dimension that opponents will have to prepare for separately from the more direct, pace-driven threat that a player like Barcola provides out wide. Rather than simply replacing one skill set with another, Liverpool could end up with two distinctly different attacking weapons that complement each other rather than compete directly for the same role every single week.
Of course, all of this hinges on execution. Positional versatility sounds great in theory, but asking a player to rotate across four roles within a single season carries real risk if it’s mismanaged. Players can lose rhythm and confidence if they’re shuffled around too frequently without a clear sense of where they’ll be lining up from match to match. Coaches who get this right tend to communicate clearly with players about expectations and give them enough consistency in each role to actually develop chemistry with their teammates in that position, rather than treating every match as a blank slate. If Iraola wants this experiment with Gakpo to succeed, he’ll need to strike that balance carefully, ensuring the winger-turned-utility-forward doesn’t end up feeling like he’s constantly being asked to adapt on the fly without any real continuity in his role.
There’s also the matter of how teammates adjust to a player who might be lining up in a completely different position from one week to the next. Combination play and understanding between attackers is built over time through repetition, and shifting Gakpo between right wing, attacking midfield, second striker, and false nine means his teammates will need to adapt their own movement and passing patterns depending on where he’s stationed. That’s a lot to ask, but it’s also precisely the kind of challenge that top clubs with genuine squad depth are equipped to handle. If Liverpool’s other attacking players are sharp enough to read those shifting patterns quickly, the flexibility could become a genuine tactical asset rather than a source of confusion.
What seems clear, regardless of how the specifics play out over the coming months, is that Iraola isn’t approaching this transfer window with a rigid, one-size-fits-all mentality. He’s signaling a willingness to build a squad where talented players earn their place through adaptability and performance rather than being defined narrowly by the position they were signed to play. That’s a refreshing departure from the more transactional way transfer windows are often discussed, where every signing is treated as a direct swap for whoever currently occupies that spot on the depth chart. Gakpo’s situation, as described in the reported comments, suggests Liverpool’s coaching staff see squad building as a more nuanced process — one where value isn’t determined solely by a transfer fee or a headline position, but by what a player can genuinely offer across multiple roles.
As the transfer deadline approaches, all eyes will understandably be on whether the Barcola deal gets over the line and what other business Liverpool might complete in the meantime. But amid that noise, the reassurance being offered to Gakpo, and by extension to Liverpool supporters, deserves attention in its own right. It’s a reminder that not every big-money arrival has to come at the cost of a player who’s already proven his worth. Sometimes the smarter move isn’t choosing between two good options — it’s finding a way to make room for both. Whether that vision fully materializes on the pitch will only become clear once the season is well underway, but for now, the message from the manager’s office appears unambiguous: Barcola may be walking through the door,but Gakpo isn’t walking out of it.