Cody Gakpo reveals what position Arne Slot has told him he’ll be playing for Liverpool this season

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Liverpool are almost ready to begin a new era at the club as their Premier League campaign draws nearer.

The last eight of the Reds’ first games’ of the season have been spent under the stewardship of Jurgen Klopp.

However, the ninth will see Arne Slot take charge of his first competitive match as Liverpool head coach.

It has been a good pre-season for Slot, who, along with his brand new coaching staff, have overseen five official matches unbeaten, including wins over Arsenal and Man United.

New staff have brought new ideas which are easy to get excited about for Liverpool supporters. And one of those schemes looks likely to be granting a change in position for Cody Gakpo.

Cody Gakpo reveals new position

Throughout last season, Gakpo struggled to fully settle into his role in the Liverpool squad. The Dutchman had a decent campaign but was rarely a key player.

Klopp admitted that he’d made a mistake with Gakpo by continually shifting his position in the XI.

The 25-year-old was mostly utilised as the central player in Liverpool’s front three and was even shifted back into midfield at times.

However, Gakpo shone from the left at this summer’s European Championship. It signalled that perhaps it was time to give him the keys to the Reds’ left wing.

READ MORE: Ryan Babel explains why Cody Gakpo could be about to get even better under Arne Slot

And according to Gakpo himself, that is exactly what Slot is planning on doing. Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com ahead of Saturday’s league opener with Ipswich Town, Cody says Slot has told him that he sees left forward as being his position.

“Yeah, I spoke to him and obviously he sees me as a left winger,” said the former PSV Eindhoven captain. “That’s how I think he sees me.

“We have a lot of players in the front line and you know the season is long and there can be some injuries in every position. So he said, ‘You’re playing there but maybe I need you in another position, you can play there as well. Just be ready.’

“For me, I’m here and I try to play the best football I can and help the club as much as I can with my qualities.”

Who should start on Liverpool’s left?

This must have been good news for the Liverpool man. Gakpo has often stated that he prefers playing from the left and we perhaps haven’t seen the best of him at Anfield in other positions.

Now that he’ll hopefully be playing in his favoured role more regularly, we can start to see more of the potential which encouraged Liverpool to spend £44m on him in 2023.

Despite that, it is not a guarantee that Gakpo will be a shoo-in into Slot’s XI every time.

Luis Diaz played in Sunday’s 4-1 win in front of the Anfield crowd and did his chances of earning a starting berth no harm with two excellent goals.

It would seemingly be between Diaz and Gakpo for who gets the nod on the left. With plenty of games to play, they’ll both get a lot of time on the pitch. But it’ll be interesting to see who Slot installs as his first choice.