Cody Gakpo had a deal in place with Manchester City. What he did not have was Liverpool’s permission to sign it.

That gap between what the player wanted and what Fenway Sports Group would allow forced a face-to-face meeting on Monday, when Gakpo sat down with FSG officials to discuss the collapse of the move. The talks were first reported in the Netherlands by Eindhovens Dagblad journalist Rik Elfrink, who described the sit-down as an attempt to clear the air between the winger and the club that had blocked his exit.

The 27-year-old was back with the squad the following day, working through a gym session at the AXA Training Centre alongside team-mates who remained at the club past the 11pm deadline on Tuesday.

Sky Sports: no like-for-like replacement

City’s approach, a headline offer of £75m plus £5m in add-ons, was rejected outright by Liverpool, with Sky Sports reporting the club was unwilling to let him leave because of concerns over finding a like-for-like replacement.

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The Athletic’s David Ornstein confirmed the same figure and the finality of the collapse.

“Manchester City had £75m + £5m bid rejected by #LFC & pursuit over, confirmed between all sides in direct communication,” Ornstein wrote.

Liverpool had chased two alternatives, Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh and Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr, and were rebuffed on both. Instead the club closed the window by signing Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain for a reported £106m, an addition that gave head coach Andoni Iraola another wide option but did not free up a spot to release Gakpo.

FSG’s verdict was set weeks earlier

For all the personal terms and the reported enthusiasm on the player’s side, this was never a decision the winger could push through. FSG had reached what Teamtalk described as a unanimous verdict that Gakpo was not for sale this summer, with the club stating it had “no intention of allowing the Netherlands international to leave” and was in no hurry to sell.

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Gakpo has started the campaign as one of Liverpool’s most effective attackers, which made the ownership’s position hard to shift even after City’s bid landed. His involvement in Tuesday’s training session was the clearest signal yet that the Anfield hierarchy had won the argument, at least for this window.

Liverpool travel to Ipswich on Friday, and Gakpo is expected to be part of Iraola’s squad at Portman Road.

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