Cody Gakpo lasted only 17 minutes of Sunday’s UEFA Nations League tie in Serbia before a scissoring tackle from Sasa Lukic sent him back down the tunnel and, within 48 hours, back onto Merseyside.
The 27-year-old is due at Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre on Monday to have the ankle scanned, according to Sports Mole, with a mild Grade 1 sprain likely to cost him around two weeks and a Grade 2 tear pushing recovery into the three to six week bracket.
Netherlands head coach Xavi Hernandez had struck a cautious note pitchside.
“I don’t think so. It’s his ankle, that’s all I know. Tomorrow we will know, but hopefully it’s not too important,” he told reporters after the 2-1 win over Serbia.
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The mechanism is what has drawn expert concern. Sports Illustrated described a scissoring challenge from Serbia’s Sasa Lukic that caught Gakpo’s studs in the turf and forced the ankle into an awkward contortion. Injury analysts flagged that mechanism as consistent with a high ankle sprain, and Caughtoffside reported a worst case of eight to ten weeks if the scan shows a high-grade syndesmosis tear requiring surgical repair.
City visit on 11 October at the edge of every scenario
Liverpool’s next Premier League fixture is at home to Manchester City on Sunday 11 October, per Sports Mole, just under two weeks after the ankle went. Even the most optimistic of the outlet’s scan pathways would leave Gakpo racing the clock.
Andoni Iraola, who took over from Arne Slot after being appointed by the club in June on a two-year deal, is already short on options up front. Alexander Isak returned from Sweden duty with what team-mates described as a heavy stamp on the toe and flew back to the AXA for assessment, with a fortnight before the City game seen as the window Liverpool need him to be ready in.
Contract stand-off already settled with FSG
The fitness question sits on top of a summer that had brought Gakpo close to leaving Anfield. Manchester City’s £80m deadline-day move collapsed after Liverpool refused to sanction the exit despite Gakpo agreeing personal terms with the champions, as TeamTalk reported in early September.
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Dutch journalist Rik Elfrink then wrote that Gakpo sat down with Fenway Sports Group at the AXA to clear the air, as summarised by This Is Anfield. The owners set out why they had blocked the move and told him to move on quickly. His response was described as positive, and his contract at Liverpool runs to 30 June 2030.
He had been Iraola’s most reliable forward since the settlement, and the ankle now decides whether the manager has him for the biggest fixture of the autumn or whether Liverpool’s already thinning attack loses another name. The scan result is expected before the international week is out.
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