Liverpool reject £80m City bid to keep Gakpo, forcing Enzo Fernandez pivot on deadline day

Liverpool have rejected Manchester City’s £80million bid for Cody Gakpo and will retain the Dutch winger, forcing City to redirect their deadline-day efforts entirely toward Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez.

City’s offer — £75m up front with £5m in add-ons — was turned down by Liverpool despite the club having recently secured the signing of Bradley Barcola, a move that had appeared to threaten Gakpo’s place in the squad. Tottenham had also registered interest in the former PSV man, but Gakpo made clear his preference was a move to Manchester. With that avenue now closed, Spurs moved swiftly to agree a deal with Everton for Iliman Ndiaye instead.

Fernandez has been on City’s radar throughout the summer window, but the club are yet to make a concrete approach until now. The Argentine has been left out of Chelsea’s matchday squads this season amid ongoing uncertainty over his future at Stamford Bridge, where he has been based since his £106m arrival from Benfica in January 2023.

Chelsea head coach Xabi Alonso acknowledged the situation openly in a recent press conference. “We’ll see. We want the best for the team and that’s why we made the decision against Luton and today,” he said. “We are not sure, we are preparing for all the scenarios but I am sure that whatever happens from Wednesday we will have a good enough squad to compete in all the Premier League games.”

Rebuilding their midfield has been a central task for City this summer following the departures of Rodri, Bernardo Silva, and Tijjani Reijnders. The club have already spent a club-record fee to sign Elliot Anderson and added teenage prospect Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille — a deal that made him the most expensive teenager in Premier League history. Fernandez would represent the final piece of that overhaul.

A further factor in City’s interest is the existing relationship between Fernandez and manager Enzo Maresca, who worked with the midfielder during his time at Chelsea before taking charge at the Etihad. Whether that familiarity is enough to push a deal over the line before Tuesday’s deadline remains to be seen.