Looking back at Liverpool’s summer transfer business, there is one decision that could have had a very different outcome.
According to James Pearce, Liverpool can count themselves lucky that Brighton rejected their £50m and £60m bids for Yankuba Minteh.
Because if Brighton had accepted either offer, Cody Gakpo would have left Liverpool for Manchester City.
That’s quite a revelation.
Speaking on The Athletic FC Podcast, Pearce explained that Gakpo had been open to joining City because Liverpool were prepared to sell him as part of their plans to bring in another winger.
And suddenly, those rejected Minteh bids look extremely important.
Imagine Liverpool without Gakpo right now
This is the part that really gets me.
Gakpo has started the season in excellent form under Andoni Iraola.
He’s looked dangerous, confident and far more like the player Liverpool supporters hoped they were signing when he arrived from PSV.
According to the latest reports, he has already contributed two goals and four assists in his first five appearances under Iraola.
So imagine if Brighton had accepted that £60m offer for Minteh.
Liverpool potentially lose Gakpo to Manchester City and replace him with Minteh.
That could have completely changed the look of Liverpool’s attack.
And let’s not forget that Minteh was injured at the time and wasn’t expected to return until around October. Pearce described the potential decision as a “disastrous” one.
Gakpo has responded brilliantly
What I like most about this whole situation is how Gakpo has handled it.
Whatever happened behind the scenes, once the transfer window closed, he got on with his job.
There hasn’t been any obvious sulking or drop-off in effort.
Instead, he’s come back into the Liverpool team and started producing.
He scored again in Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup victory over Tottenham, continuing what has been a very encouraging start to the campaign.
And that makes Pearce’s comments even more interesting.
Liverpool supporters could easily have been watching Gakpo playing in a Manchester City shirt right now.
Instead, he’s scoring goals for us.
Sometimes a failed transfer is a blessing
Liverpool supporters spend plenty of time talking about transfers that didn’t happen and wondering what might have been.
But this is a slightly different situation.
The club clearly wanted another winger and were prepared to spend heavily on Minteh.
Brighton simply refused to sell.
That forced Liverpool to reconsider their options — and ultimately Gakpo stayed.
Football can be strange like that.
A decision that might initially have felt like a disappointment because Liverpool couldn’t get their preferred target could actually have prevented the club from making a decision they would now regret.
I’m certainly glad Gakpo is still here.
He’s looking settled, he’s contributing and he appears to be enjoying his football again.
And if he continues playing like this, Liverpool supporters may look back at those rejected Minteh bids and think:
Thank you, Brighton.
Because keeping Cody Gakpo could turn out to be one of the best things that happened to Liverpool’s attack this summer.
Jamie (The Kopite View)
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