Club stunned by £85m forward's sudden transfer U-turn after deal agreed

Liverpool have been busy in the closing stages of the summer transfer window.

The ink is drying on Bradley Barcola’s Reds’ contract with the French winger signing for £123m from Paris Saint-Germain.

Deals may also be still alive for Ismaila Sarr and Yankuba Minteh - as Richard Hughes plots a way to finally replace Mohamed Salah.

Sarr, 28, plays for Crystal Palace and is believed to be valued at around £70m by the UEFA Europa Conference League holders.

Minteh meanwhile is a 22-year-old Brighton winger - who Liverpool have already bid twice for this window.

After seeing offers worth £50m and £60m discarded by the Seagulls do not discount the possibility of a third bid before the clock ticks down.

Liverpool outgoings inevitable

In order to finance these deals - and make space in the squad - outgoings will be necessary.

We could see Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott depart if the right offers are found. But by far the biggest potential outgoing deal was going to be for Cody Gakpo.

The 27-year-old Dutchman had his heart set on a move to Manchester City - with a deal worth £85m mooted.

Tottenham stunned by Gakpo U-turn

That development is reported to have STUNNED Tottenham - who thought they had a deal for the versatile forward in the bag.

That’s according to a report in TEAMtalk which claims that Gakpo committed a transfer U-turn after earlier okaying an agreement to move to Spurs.

“Tottenham Hotspur have been left shocked by Cody Gakpo’s decision to snub a move to North London and instead pursue a switch to Manchester City,” the report reads.

“Gakpo had already agreed terms in principle to join Tottenham, with Spurs preparing to pay in excess of £75million to Liverpool for the Netherlands international.”

Man City swooped for Gakpo: £85m deal

Gakpo joined the Reds from PSV for around £37m back in 2023 - going on to enjoy a solid title-winning campaign in 2024/25.

Like the rest of his teammates he suffered a regression under Arne Slot last season but bounced back well in the early days of Andoni Iraola’s reign.

The winger inked a new £250k per week contract extension just over a year ago - tying him to the club until 2030.

He now looks set to stay at Anfield as City's opening bid for Gakpo fell short of Liverpool's expectations. Let's see how this develops overnight.