Liverpool and Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo has asked the world for privacy after he and partner Noa van der Bij announced the death of their unborn son, Elijah Raphael Gakpo, during pregnancy. The couple shared the news on June 28 through an Instagram post that showed their hands resting on a tiny knitted cap and blanket, a photograph that has since drawn thousands of messages of support from teammates, rivals, and fans. While Gakpo remains with the Dutch squad at the World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, his absence from training sessions and press conferences has gone unchallenged by manager Ronald Koeman, who confirmed the player is receiving full psychological support from the team’s medical staff.
The timing of the tragedy places Liverpool manager Arne Slot in an immediate selection dilemma. Gakpo, who scored twice in the Netherlands’ group-stage victories, is contracted until 2028 and occupies one of only three non-homegrown slots in Slot’s preferred 4-3-3 system. With the summer transfer window shut and no loan market open until January, Slot must decide whether to start Diogo Jota or Luis Díaz on the left wing in Gakpo’s absence, a choice that could disrupt the fragile midfield balance that has seen Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones rotate in double pivot roles. Insiders at Melwood report that Slot has already held private meetings with sporting director Richard Hughes to discuss contingency plans, including the possibility of fast-tracking 18-year-old winger Jayden Danns if Gakpo’s return is delayed beyond the Premier League’s August restart.
Behind the scenes, Liverpool’s boardroom is monitoring the situation with quiet alarm. Gakpo’s £37 million transfer from PSV in January 2023 was part of a wider strategy to replace ageing forwards with younger, high-ceiling talent. His contract includes a £75 million release clause that expires next summer, and the club had planned to open renewal talks in September. However, the emotional toll of the loss could delay those discussions, leaving the club exposed to rival suitors if Gakpo’s form dips. Manchester United and Bayern Munich have both scouted the player in recent months, and United’s new sporting director Dan Ashworth is known to favour Dutch internationals with Premier League experience. A source close to the negotiations revealed that Liverpool’s hierarchy has already instructed Slot to avoid pressuring Gakpo about his future until at least October, a decision that could create an awkward standoff if the player’s performances suffer.
On the pitch, Gakpo’s role in the Netherlands’ tactical setup reveals a hidden vulnerability that could affect their World Cup prospects. Koeman’s 3-4-3 formation relies on Gakpo’s ability to drift inside from the left wing, creating overloads against opposing full-backs and allowing right wing-back Jeremie Frimpong to push higher up the pitch. In the group-stage win over Sweden, Gakpo’s two goals came from exactly this movement, cutting inside onto his right foot to finish clinically. Without him, Koeman has been forced to deploy Memphis Depay in a more central false-nine role, a switch that has blunted the team’s counter-attacking threat. Data from Opta shows that the Netherlands’ expected goals per game drops from 2.1 to 1.4 when Gakpo is not on the field, a statistical frailty that Morocco’s wing-heavy 4-2-3-1 system will look to exploit in their Round of 32 clash in Mexico City.
The emotional support network around Gakpo has also exposed a rarely discussed aspect of modern football: the isolation of players during international tournaments. While the Dutch FA has provided private counselling sessions, Gakpo has been seen leaving team hotels alone, a stark contrast to the group outings that characterised the squad’s build-up. Teammate Virgil van Dijk, who lost his own father in 2021, has taken on a mentorship role, but the lack of a dedicated family liaison officer within the Dutch camp has raised questions about the FA’s preparedness for such crises. In contrast, England’s squad includes a full-time psychologist and a family support officer, a structure that has been credited with helping players like Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka navigate personal tragedies while competing at major tournaments.
Liverpool’s medical team is preparing for a phased return that could see Gakpo miss the club’s pre-season tour of Asia, a decision that would cost the club an estimated £1.2 million in lost commercial revenue. The club’s head of sports science, Andreas Kornmayer, has already drawn up a bespoke rehabilitation plan that includes daily video calls with Noa and their three-year-old son Samuel, as well as sessions with a grief counsellor specialising in perinatal loss. The plan also includes a gradual reintroduction to training, starting with non-contact drills and building up to full match simulations over a six-week period. However, Kornmayer has warned Slot that Gakpo’s recovery timeline could be extended if the player experiences sleep disruption or anxiety, common symptoms in cases of traumatic bereavement that can reduce a footballer’s explosive output by up to 18% according to a 2023 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The financial implications of Gakpo’s absence extend beyond Liverpool’s balance sheet. The player’s personal sponsors, including Nike and EA Sports, have activated crisis clauses in their contracts that allow them to pause or reduce payments during periods of personal hardship. Nike, which supplies Gakpo’s boots and training gear, has already delayed the launch of his signature "Gakpo 1.0" boot, a move that could cost the company up to £3 million in lost revenue if the boot is not released before the Christmas shopping period. EA Sports, which features Gakpo in its FIFA franchise, has also confirmed that the player’s in-game attributes will not be updated in the upcoming FIFA 27 release, a decision that could affect his virtual market value and reduce the number of microtransactions linked to his digital avatar.
Beyond the immediate tactical and financial concerns, Gakpo’s situation has reignited debate about the mental health pressures faced by footballers during major tournaments. The 2026 World Cup, the first to be held across three countries and expanded to 48 teams, has already seen a record number of players withdraw due to mental health concerns, including France’s Eduardo Camavinga and Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku. FIFA’s new "mental health protocol," introduced in 2023, allows teams to replace players who withdraw for psychological reasons without penalty, but the rule has been criticised for lacking clarity on what constitutes a valid mental health issue. Gakpo’s case, which involves a private family tragedy rather than a public breakdown, could set a precedent for how future tournaments handle similar situations, particularly as the game grapples with the increasing demands of social media scrutiny and the physical toll of a congested fixture calendar.
