da stake casino： The Dutchman looks so much more comfortable and effective on the left flank, meaning his Colombian colleague could be sold for the right price

da bet7： Cody Gakpo admitted towards the tail end of last season that he was "curious" to see what plans Arne Slot has in store for Liverpool. He's certainly not alone in that regard. There's an awful lot of uncertainty swirling around Anfield right now, with nobody quite sure what to expect from the post-Jurgen Klopp era.

By winning the Carabao Cup with kids and securing a return to the Champions League in his final season at the helm, the German certainly left Liverpool in rude health. The return of 'laptop guru' Michael Edwards and the appointment of the highly-rated Richard Hughes as the club's new sporting director have also strengthened the belief that the Reds can construct a new, winning team on the solid foundations that Klopp has left behind. Furthermore, Slot has already proven that he can upset richer rivals on a smaller budget in his native Netherlands.

However, the Dutchman is undeniably an unknown quantity at the very highest level, while there are ongoing doubts over the futures of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold – all of whom have just one year left on their current contracts. It's also not yet known what Slot wants to do with the enigmatic Darwin Nunez, while Luis Diaz remains the subject of incessant transfer talk.

What's clear, though, is that Gakpo should be given a major role to play in the new era – and in his preferred position on Liverpool's left flank.

GettyPlaying in 'slow motion'

After initially looking like Liverpool's new Roberto Firmino, Gakpo became a polarising player in the fans' eyes last season. Former defender Jamie Carragher even got himself embroiled in a rather ugly online spat with a fellow supporter after claiming that Gakpo "plays like the game is in slow motion".

The insinuation was that the former PSV star wasn't just lacking in pace, but also urgency, and there were definitely times when Gakpo came off the bench during the second half of the 2023-24 campaign and failed to play with the kind of drive and determination that one would expect from a substitute hoping to reclaim a starting spot.

AdvertisementGetty Klopp takes the blame

Klopp explained, though, that it was a question of confidence rather than motivation, admitting that Gakpo had suffered because of his decision to try to play him in midfield earlier in the season.

"The offensive part of that role he can definitely play, but with the defensive things which he was not used to, that cost him a bit of confidence in moments, you could see that," the former Reds boss told reporters in February.

"The boy came here from PSV and was flying from day one pretty much and then, all of a sudden, you saw, okay that's now not exactly the same. These kinds of things happen. If you ask Cody he would not say it's the best season of his life, but we all know how good a player he is and he's always a threat."

Getty Return to form

The turning point came in March, during a sit-down between player and manager, with Klopp telling Gakpo that he had essentially misunderstood what was being asked of him.

"When you’re trying something you actually don’t have to, you lose the rest of your game a little bit," Klopp said in May. "By stopping that, you can be yourself immediately again. It’s crazy because I think in the very next game, Cody came on and looked completely different."

The net result was Gakpo finishing the season far better than many of his team-mates. However, while the mental aspect was obviously key, it was noticeable during the final few weeks of the campaign that Gakpo was doing most of his best work on the left-hand side.

Technically, he was still leading the line, having reclaimed the central attacking berth from the increasingly wasteful Nunez, but he was often drifting towards – or starting from – wide positions. The feeling that Gakpo would be better deployed as a winger going forward only intensified after watching him in action for Netherlands in their Euro 2024 opener against Poland last weekend.

Strong start to the Euros

Gakpo's influence may have faded late on, but for the 81 minutes he was on the field in Hamburg, he was the game's most dangerous attacker and a worthy recipient of the Man of the Match award. As well as scoring his country's equaliser, he created two clear chances, won more duels than any other player (15) and completed all five of his dribbles.

Gakpo has stated in the past that he doesn't have a preference in terms of where he plays. "In the last three seasons, I’ve mostly played on the left, but during the World Cup, I also played more in the middle, as a No.10," he told UEFA last September. "I think it’s just important that I play."

However, it's becoming increasingly clear that he's more comfortable and more effective on the flank. Of course, if Slot were to decide to put Gakpo on the left, that immediately raises the question: where will Diaz play? And the answer could be Paris or Barcelona.