Cody Gakpo chooses Manchester City over Tottenham in deal worth around £85m as Liverpool sign Barcola

Cody Gakpo has opted for Manchester City, turning down an £85m switch to Tottenham and drawing a line under weeks of transfer speculation. Liverpool are set to approve his departure having already wrapped up a £123m agreement for PSG winger Bradley Barcola as his successor. Negotiations between all parties are under way to agree the final fee, with City reported to be willing to put €99m on the table for the Dutch international.

Spurs had looked close to landing Gakpo before City — who offloaded Savio and Omar Marmoush to Tottenham earlier this summer — moved in late to hijack the deal.

The setback deepens a miserable week for Roberto De Zerbi's side, whose Premier League campaign has yielded no goals across the first two matches — something that last occurred in 1992/93.

Gakpo contributed 18 goals and seven assists during Liverpool's title-winning 2024-25 season before putting pen to paper on a new five-year deal as recently as last August.