Liverpool fans are still waiting to hear when Cody Gakpo will be back fit and available as he looks to build on a strong start to the season.

The Dutchman was the subject of transfer discussions before the campaign began, with an agreement reached to sell him to Manchester City. But after Liverpool failed to find a suitable replacement for him, Gakpo was kept and has subsequently stepped up to become a key player under Andoni Iraola.

Gerrard pleased Liverpool did not sell Gakpo

In a different world, Gakpo could have been lining up against Liverpool for Man City during Sunday’s defeat at Anfield. Given the revelation of City’s guilty verdict from the Premier League in September, he is probably grateful that the move did not go through.

Gerrard is too, and as he told former lower league striker and Liverpool supporter Adebayo Akinfenwa on his ‘Beast Mode On’ podcast, Gakpo, though he is currently injured, is the best alternative Iraola has to Alexander Isak right now.

“Well, you know what? I think obviously on the back of last season and the injury to Ekitike and was only really having one number nine in Isak, I think it was critical that we kept Cody Gakpo,” he said, after Akinfenwa revealed that he messaged Gakpo asking him not to leave.

“They are not far, but it’s difficult to tell right now,” he said at Tuesday’s press conference. “None of the three have trained with the group and we are taking it day to day.

“I don’t know if they’re going to be ready for Brentford, for Villarreal, for Brighton, I don’t know.”

With Lewis Koumas in decent form and Bradley Barcola now hitting his straps too, Liverpool are in a better place to cope without their absent forwards. But fans will hope to see Gakpo again soon as he pulls an Anfield career that looked to be over back from the brink.