Liverpool Transfer Window: Elliott and Gakpo Departures Loom as Barcola Joins
Liverpool’s transfer window, already fraught with tension and compromise, is lurching into an even more precarious phase. As the club closes in on a £100m-plus deal for PSG winger Bradley Barcola, two high‑profile attacking departures are edging closer: Harvey Elliott towards Valencia, and Cody Gakpo into the crosshairs of Manchester City.
This is not the summer Liverpool imagined. Andoni Iraola is trying to shape a new side with a thin squad, and the clock is unforgiving.
Elliott pushes for Spain
Harvey Elliott’s Liverpool career has stalled. After an underwhelming loan spell at Aston Villa last season, the midfielder has slipped further down the pecking order at Anfield and is now actively working on his exit.
Valencia have moved decisively. Journalist Matteo Moretto revealed the Spanish club are “negotiating” for Elliott and that optimism is growing between the parties. Elliott has already spoken directly with Iraola and, crucially, has asked to join Valencia. The intention is clear: he wants this move.
Talks between the clubs are described as “very advanced”, with the structure of the deal set to be a loan. No permanent fee has been mentioned, no option disclosed, just a straight temporary switch on the table.
The pressure on Liverpool’s recruitment team ratcheted up again when Fabrizio Romano added his weight to the story. According to Romano, Elliott has already agreed personal terms with Valencia after positive discussions, leaving the two clubs to hammer out the final details.
Valencia have made an official approach, Romano confirmed, and Elliott is not short of options. He has three proposals on the table, but the Spanish club are pushing hard to beat the competition, in constant talks with the player’s camp and Liverpool.
For a club already accused of “flapping” in the market and heading for a “Spurs-like season” if they misjudge this window, losing a young, homegrown midfielder while the squad still looks light is a risky play. Yet Elliott wants minutes, and Iraola’s project in La Liga has clearly caught his eye.
City circle Gakpo
If Elliott’s exit feels like a natural next step, Cody Gakpo’s situation is more jarring.
Manchester City, fresh from allowing Savinho and Omar Marmoush to join Tottenham, are short in attacking areas and have turned their attention to the Liverpool forward. Journalist Pete O’Rourke reports that City are “pushing to agree a deal” and that Gakpo has emerged as their top target to replenish Pep Guardiola’s frontline.
The move would raise eyebrows across the league. Gakpo has long been on Tottenham’s radar this summer, with Spurs showing the most concrete interest in the Dutchman, but City’s entry into the race changes the dynamic entirely. When City decide a player is their priority, the market usually bends around them.
O’Rourke admitted the pursuit is a surprise, yet City’s logic is straightforward: they need attacking reinforcements, and Gakpo fits the profile. For Liverpool, though, the idea of strengthening a direct rival while still scrambling to complete their own rebuild is a far more complicated equation.
Barcola in, questions everywhere else
Amid all this, Liverpool have at least landed their marquee attacking signing. Their long pursuit of Bradley Barcola is finally set to pay off, with the PSG winger expected to join for £100m plus add-ons. He will become the club’s fourth summer arrival after Ronald Araujo, Jeremy Jacquet and Victor Munoz.
On paper, that looks like a serious injection of talent. In reality, the squad still feels incomplete. Iraola could yet need another forward, a midfielder and possibly a right-back before the window shuts. At the same time, more exits are looming, and the manager is already operating with a group that looks thin for a club with Liverpool’s ambitions.
The tension is obvious: Liverpool are trying to refresh, not dismantle. Yet as Elliott pushes for Valencia and City bear down on Gakpo, the balance between evolution and erosion grows ever finer.
With days left in the window, Liverpool must decide: are these the sacrifices of a necessary rebuild, or the first steps towards a season spent chasing shadows?
