The Sports Guru
Seven league goals in a season rarely triggers transfer interest from a rival club, yet Tottenham are reportedly keen on Liverpool's Cody Gakpo. This article explains the gap between his modest scoring return and the attacking data that appears to be driving Spurs' interest, and why Liverpool may still be reluctant to sell.
A player who managed only seven Premier League goals last season isn't typically the name that gets a rival club talking. Yet reports have Tottenham circling Liverpool's Cody Gakpo, and the reasoning has little to do with his finishing and much more to do with everything he does before the ball reaches the net.
A tactical puzzle De Zerbi wants solved
At first glance Gakpo reads as simply another left-sided option for a Spurs forward line that already has plenty. Look closer, though, and Roberto de Zerbi appears to see something more specific: a player who can drift infield, link the play between midfield and attack, and then spring runners with a pass rather than a run of his own. That is a defined tactical need, not a straightforward squad addition.
Gakpo's Liverpool career has been built mainly from the left flank, but he has repeatedly filled in centrally - as a striker, a false nine, a second forward - for both club and country. De Zerbi's forwards are typically asked to abandon the central channel and combine with midfielders instead of pinning the last defender, which is exactly the kind of movement Gakpo's background makes possible. Dominic Solanke and Mathys Tel remain out-and-out central strikers for Spurs; neither can shift between the wing and the middle within the same match the way Gakpo can.
The numbers behind a quiet season
Opinion on Gakpo's 2025-26 campaign split Liverpool's fanbase. Seven league goals is the lowest total he has posted in a full Anfield season, and scrutiny of the attack was inevitable once the team's title defence ended in fifth place.
The underlying figures tell a more flattering story. Just seven wingers across Europe's top five leagues averaged more touches inside the opposition box than Gakpo's 2.2 per ninety minutes, and he placed inside the top ten continent-wide for both open-play shots and chances created. His player comparison data puts him in the 98th percentile for shot frequency, the 96th for advanced involvement and the 91st for box threat against positional peers - figures that suggest very few wide forwards get into scoring positions as often as he does.
Part of that comes down to a willingness to gamble on the space behind a defence. Gakpo was flagged offside 30 times in the Premier League last season, more than anyone else in the division, a sign of a forward repeatedly testing the last line rather than waiting to receive the ball to feet. It's a habit that produces false starts as well as goals - as it did in 2024-25, when Gakpo found the net 18 times in all competitions during Liverpool's title-winning campaign.
How he compares with Spurs' current forwards
Set against Tottenham's own attacking options, the interest becomes easier to understand. Gakpo closed last season with a higher expected-goals total (8.59), more shots (87), more assists (five) and more big chances created (ten) than any Spurs forward managed - despite playing for a Liverpool side whose title defence collapsed to fifth.
Richarlison outscored Gakpo in the league, but his shooting numbers lagged well behind: he attempted 26 fewer shots than Gakpo's 87 and created only half as many big chances, five to Gakpo's ten. Solanke, hampered by injury for long spells, managed just 20 shots and a single big chance created across the whole season. Tel also fell short on several attacking measures, and Randal Kolo Muani - on loan at Spurs before his move to Juventus - trailed Gakpo's output as well.
The gap widens further inside the box. Gakpo racked up 187 touches in the opposition penalty area, well clear of Richarlison's 125, Tel's 68 and Solanke's 55. His expected assists from open play, 4.17, was comfortably the best of the four, pointing to a forward who creates chances just as readily as he threatens to finish them himself.
He isn't purely an attacking figure, either. Gakpo won the ball back 87 times last season - 45 of those in the middle third - and made 13 interceptions, all higher totals than Richarlison, Tel or Solanke managed. Tel did complete more dribbles, 39 against Gakpo's 34, though Gakpo's success rate of 45.95% edged his. At 6ft 4in, Gakpo also sits in the 96th percentile for aerial volume among positional peers across Europe's top five leagues - meaning only about 4% of wingers contest aerial balls at a higher rate - giving Spurs a route against packed defences that none of their current wide options can offer in quite the same way.
Why Liverpool are unlikely to wave him through
The same data that makes Gakpo attractive to Tottenham is exactly why Liverpool are in no rush to sell. With Mohamed Salah gone and Hugo Ekitike still working his way back from an Achilles injury, losing Gakpo too would leave a real hole in attacking depth - even as Liverpool chase Paris St-Germain's Bradley Barcola. Should that deal go through, much would still fall on newcomer Victor Munoz and 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha, which makes Gakpo's proven Premier League output hard to simply write off.
And that output has held remarkably steady. Across four seasons since his January 2023 arrival from PSV Eindhoven, Gakpo has scored seven, eight, ten and seven league goals for Liverpool. Since November 2024, only Salah has scored more Premier League goals for the club than Gakpo's 17, and only Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai have registered more intentional assists than his five. Four different managers, several different attacking roles, one consistent level of output - not the profile of a player a club typically lets go without a fight.
The case Tottenham are reportedly making
Seven league goals won't win many transfer arguments on its own, but Tottenham's interest appears to rest on a different question entirely - not how often did he score, but how often did he get himself into a position to. By that measure, Gakpo ranks among the most productive wide forwards anywhere in Europe, and his ability to play across the front line offers De Zerbi something none of his current options quite provide: a forward who can start on the left and finish through the middle without Spurs needing to change shape around him.
Whether Tottenham can actually talk Liverpool into selling one of their more experienced attackers is another matter. The numbers make the interest easy to follow. Converting that interest into an actual deal looks like the far tougher part.
Frequently Asked Questions
Roberto de Zerbi reportedly views Gakpo as a forward who can operate centrally as well as on the left, dropping between the lines to link play before releasing runners - a profile that fits De Zerbi's system and offers Spurs positional flexibility their current forwards lack.
Only seven wingers in Europe's top five leagues averaged more touches in the opposition box than Gakpo's 2.2 per ninety minutes, and he ranked in the top ten for both open-play shots and chances created, suggesting his underlying threat outstripped his scoring return.
He finished last season with a higher expected-goals total, more shots, more assists and more big chances created than Richarlison, Dominic Solanke or Mathys Tel, and recorded far more touches in the opposition box than any of them.
With Mohamed Salah having left and Hugo Ekitike still recovering from injury, Liverpool are short on proven attacking options. Gakpo has scored consistently across four Premier League seasons at Anfield, making him difficult to replace even if a deal for Bradley Barcola goes through.
Yes. He scored seven, eight, ten and seven league goals in his four seasons since joining from PSV Eindhoven, and netted 18 times in all competitions during Liverpool's 2024-25 title-winning campaign.
Research: This article uses the archived evidence supplied for this story. Story inspiration: BBC Sport's original report.