Liverpool need to sell Cody Gakpo to sign a centre-back.
This sounds like a strange statement and most will automatically think that this comes down to the finances of a defender deal, but this isn’t the case, even though it may help.
The reality is that Liverpool will need to free up a non-homegrown player slot in order to sign a foreign defender if they were also to sign Bradley Barcola.
What are the non-homegrown player rules?
Premier League clubs are allowed to register 17 non-homegrown players in their squad. Liverpool currently have 16 non-homegrown players and with fans hoping for the signing of Bradley Barcola to completed in the coming weeks, that signing would complete their squad.
One way of getting around this problem would be signing a homegrown player such as Ezri Konsa or Jarell Quansah, who have both been linked in recent weeks.
If Liverpool went in a different direction and signed a non-homegrown defender, they would need to sell a non-homegrown player.
Gakpo’s Spurs interest
Cody Gakpo was a marmite figure for Liverpool fans by the end of last season. Many became frustrated with the repeated nature of his attacking threat. They felt he cut in from the left a lot and shot without much success. Gakpo himself knew that he wasn’t playing to the same level as he had been the season before.
They also became frustrated with the fact that Rio Ngumoha was not being given as many opportunities by Slot in the team as he opted for Gakpo more often than the young talent who offered something different to the rest of the squad.
There have been links that Spurs may be interested in a roughly €80 million move for Gakpo.
