REPORT: Man City showing interest in Spurs target Cody Gakpo

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - AUGUST 23: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Cody Gakpo of Liverpool looks on during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Newcastle United and Liverpool FC at St James' Park on August 23, 2026 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images) | Liverpool FC via Getty Images

OK, look — I’m already mad at Fabrizio Romano (sigh) for apparently jumping the gun this weekend on the Omar Marmoush deal. And so instead, I’ll use the OTHER significant but sometimes flawed journalist who has this story — Gianluca DiMarzio, who tweeted this morning that Manchester city is making an attempt to sign Liverpool hybrid attacker Cody Gakpo in what’s left of the transfer window.

.@ManCity are making an attempt to sign Cody Gakpo from @LFC! City are trying to anticipate other clubs in the race. @SkySport

— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) August 24, 2026

Romano (sigh) has some extra details, including that Liverpool aren’t going to sanction Gakpo’s release to anyone without Liverpool signing TWO new wingers in the next 8 days, and that Spurs have apparently had personal terms agreed with Gakpo since July. So take all this with a pretty huge grain of salt.

Here’s where we are at the moment: Tottenham and City have agreed for the transfer of Savinho for an inflated fee of £85m. Romano jumped the gun too early on Marmoush, reporting this weekend the agreement of a loan-to-buy with a purchase option-slash-obligation of £50m, to which Spurs are apparently still waiting for the green light from City. Spurs also want to purchase Cody Gakpo in addition to Marmoush and Savinho, but it’s always been the case that Liverpool don’t want to sell; Gakpo started and scored in Liverpool’s week 1 match against Newcastle this weekend.

On the one hand — if you’re pro-Gakpo and were hoping this to get done, this is going to be an extremely FFS LANGE moment for you. But I’d hypothesize that Gakpo to anyone has been looking unlikely for weeks now. Also, I’m on record on not really being that fond of spending big money on Gakpo anyway, so even in the case that City gazumps us for him — which again looks kind of unlikely at this point — I’d really be okay with it and would consider it City saving us from ourselves.

That’s just my opinion, and a lot of people disagree with that, and it’s fine. But based on today’s updates, if what Romano says about Liverpool’s transfer needs before sanctioning a Gakpo exit are correct, this is a deal that probably wouldn’t get done until deadline day anyway.

I’d suggest Spurs consider moving to another target, but the “other target” is said to be Chelsea’s Mikhailo Mudryk, and if that’s the case then we should move to the OTHER other target.