Throughout the summer transfer market, Liverpool completed only one player departure.
The sole source of incoming revenue for the Reds came from Curtis Jones’ £30 million transfer to Inter Milan, leaving the club with one of the most substantial net expenditures in the top flight. It would have been understandable if the 2024/25 Premier League titleholders had tried to generate some quick funds through late departures to offset their spending.
However, the club’s majority shareholders, FSG, chose to make a courageous stand by rejecting a historic bid in the final stages of the transfer window, ensuring one of their best-paid assets remained on the books.
Anfield hierarchy turn down £80m offer for Cody Gakpo
A report from TEAMTALK suggests that FSG exerted their authority directly, putting a definitive stop to Cody Gakpo’s rumored switch to Manchester City.
According to the claims, the decision-makers at Anfield were in complete agreement that the number 18 was absolutely off-limits. The hierarchy made it clear that they had zero desire to let the Dutch attacker depart, showing no urgency to profit from the 27-year-old even as they attempted to finalize a deal for Yankuba Minteh in the final days of the window.
FSG step in to block Cody Gakpo departure
This development is rather unexpected, given that FSG usually avoids micro-managing football affairs, preferring a self-financing strategy that relies on delegating key choices to their recruitment team. It is highly notable that the report highlights the ownership group itself, rather than sporting director Richard Hughes, as the driving force behind Gakpo staying.
Without their intervention, would the Reds have accepted the historic sum and spent those funds prior to the window closing? Frenkie de Jong’s move to Barcelona currently stands as the most expensive transfer for a Dutch footballer, a record that Gakpo’s rumored £80 million valuation would have surpassed.
With FSG blocking potential departures and incoming stakeholder Amit Bhatia playing a part in the pursuit of Bradley Barcola, things are looking fascinating at Anfield, though the lines of authority regarding club operations seem somewhat blurred at the moment.
