Tottenham 'up the ante on Man City' with underhand Cody Gakpo tactic

Tottenham's interest in Liverpool attacker Cody Gakpo may not be all it appears on the face of it.

That is the view of John Wenham, speaking exclusively to Tottenham News, after reports emerged out of the Netherlands on Saturday suggesting Gakpo is on Spurs' radar.

The Netherlands international, currently away on World Cup duty, is coming off the back of a disappointing club campaign.

However, Gakpo has 50 goals and 23 assists for Liverpool in 180 appearances since arriving from PSV in January 2023.

That is a more-than-respectable tally, but rumours of Spurs being interested did not go down all that well.

In the view of Wenham, there could be more to the speculation than meets the eye.

Tottenham use Cody Gakpo as a pawn in Savinho pursuit

Tottenham have been fast off the mark in the off-season, having already agreed deals for full-backs Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi.

There has also been strong talk of Tottenham being in talks to sign Savinho from Manchester City.

The Lilywhites missed out on the winger last summer, but his situation has since changed at the Etihad Stadium.

However, since talk of a £60million deal being in the pipeline was reported earlier this month, it has gone very quiet on that front.

And Spurs' apparent interest in Gakpo may well be linked to that.

"These Gakpo links are surely nonsense," Wenham said. "You'd imagine it's to maybe up the ante on Man City and Savinho."

If that is the case, it is a very smart ploy from Tottenham. If Man City think the North London club will walk away from a deal, they will be forced to speed up talks.

Would Gakpo be all that bad as a second choice option?

As highlighted by the Dutch winger's stats above, he is a solid Premier League option.

Sure, last season did not go well for the 27-year-old or indeed Liverpool, but he has shown he can do a job when in the right mood.

Roberto De Zerbi would thrive off getting the best out of an underperforming player, as he has done in the past.

Ultimately, though, Savinho is a shinier new object for Spurs to play with and that is clearly the deal the Lilywhites would prefer.

It is now a case of waiting on to see if a breakthrough can be reached. If not, Gakpo would not be the worst back-up choice to go for.