Liverpool are coming to a sad Cody Gakpo realization

Liverpool are having a rough second season under Arne Slot, because even though they won the Premier League in his first chapter as the Reds manager and then the club went ahead and had the most aggressive summer transfer window of any team in the world, they have regressed quite significantly in 2025/26.

Mikel Arteta and Arsenal are pretty much running away with first place while Liverpool are fighting for a Champions League spot. And while they are very much winning that battle right now, they have been far from convincing, which a reason draw with Burnley sealed.

New additions Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, and Hugo Ekitike cost a pretty penny, and even though Ekitike and Wirtz have been more positive then negative thus far, even they have not come close to meeting the expectations of their massive price tags.

But the real disappointment in the attack has been the new man to take over the left wing, Cody Gakpo. A favorite of Slot’s, Gakpo has not been terrible this season, but compared to the expectations of a left winger at Liverpool when they want to win the Premier League and Champions League, he has been well below the standard required.

His stats do not look terrible. Gakpo has five goals and three assists in 16 starts and 20 total appearances, which is mediocre but respectable. But when you factor in his other stats, there is a huge problem

The Dutch forward is not even averaging a dribble completed per game. He is drawing 1.5 fouls and has 1.5 key passes per game, but, again, those are fairly average numbers for a starting left winger at a top club.

Gakpo is too average. He does not help Liverpool tactically either because he cannot beat defenders one on one or provide width. He is a mediocre inverted playmaker who creates some chances and scores some goals, but if he is not on a hot streak, he is pretty unimpressive.

Meanwhile, Luis Diaz has turned Bayern Munich’s attack into arguably the best in Europe, opening up the entire offense with his speed, explosiveness, dribbling quality, and hard work in transition.

Liverpool are realizing that Gakpo is half the player that Diaz is and that they did not quite appreciate the Colombian enough. They trusted Slot’s judgment, undervalued Diaz, and now overvalued Gakpo so badly that they have to contemplate trying to sell him in the summer to get someone else.