Bayern Munich consider summer move for Cody Gakpo
Bayern Munich are considering a summer move for Liverpool attacker Cody Gakpo, according to journalist Florian Plettenberg.
The Bundesliga club is actively pursuing a new left winger to strengthen that area of their attack ahead of the new season.
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They have added Gakpo to their shortlist after recently being linked with Kaoru Mitoma and Rafael Leao.
Bayern are keen to bring in more attacking quality and see Gakpo as someone who can deliver immediately.
The Dutch forward has enjoyed a strong season under manager Arne Slot, helping Liverpool win the 2024–25 Premier League title.
Gakpo has bagged 18 goals and seven assists in all competitions, highlighting his importance to the team.
Bayern have already made contact with Gakpo
Bayern sporting director Max Eberl is reportedly a fan of Gakpo and has already contacted the player regarding a potential deal.
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The 26-year-old is currently under contract at Liverpool until 2028, but there he could leave if the right offer comes in.
Gakpo's versatility is a major reason behind Bayern's growing interest. He can play as a left winger and as a central striker.
His ability to cut inside from the left, combined with his speed and dribbling, makes him a dangerous attacking threat.
Bayern want someone who can add quality and goals from wide areas, and Gakpo fits that profile perfectly.
The club plans to make several changes to their squad this summer, prioritising the addition of attacking strength.
Gakpo has proven he can perform in a high-pressure team and could bring that experience to the Bundesliga.
Bayern's interest is clear as the summer transfer window approaches, but they are yet to make an offer.
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New York Times
11 minutes ago
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18 minutes ago
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New York Times
23 minutes ago
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As a result, they would take part in the Asian Champions League (AFC) if successful, rather than the Oceania (OFC) equivalent, from which City qualified for this Club World Cup. That is not the only difference. Auckland FC are a fully professional team owned by Bill Foley, the American billionaire who also owns Bournemouth in the Premier League and ice hockey's Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL, plus stakes in French side Lorient and Hibernian in Scotland. They play in a 25,000-capacity stadium and are sponsored by blue-chip companies including McDonald's and New Balance. Advertisement All of which is very much not Auckland City. Their home is Kiwitea Street, which holds 5,000 fans. The cost of their flights to America alone for this tournament was roughly twice their annual revenue. Of course, they are underdogs and from the other side of football's velvet rope; the inequities describe themselves. But Kilkolly and his team-mates are truly football men who have sacrificed as much as anyone to be at this first revamped and expanded Club World Cup. Locally, City are a power. They are 10-time national champions, and have won the OFC Champions League 13 times since 2006, each one qualifying them for the Club World Cup; they even managed a bronze medal in the far smaller annual version 11 years ago, beating Mexican top-flight side Cruz Azul on penalties in the third-place play-off. On the global stage, they play the role often occupied by their opponents in New Zealand and wider Oceania. 'In most games,' Kilkolly explains, 'we have about 67 per cent possession and play against low blocks, so it probably is going to be a little bit different (in the States). We face teams with 11 guys on the edge of the box quite often and it can be hard to break down. 'We're very possession-based. We've scored a lot of late winners in our history because we're patient and wear teams down. 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Being able to train so much and play so much has given me a happy place, and for two or three hours, it has given me somewhere where I can forget.' His attitude towards the daunting task ahead is what you might expect. Enjoy it, play hard and well, and leave without any regrets. But part of Auckland City's function at this tournament is not just to give a good account of themselves, but to show young footballers back home that it is possible for someone from New Zealand to play on the global stage. They have a broader purpose and a desire to reinforce the positive community work they are already performing. In March, the new Club World Cup trophy toured through Mount Roskill, a suburb of just under 30,000 people to the south of Kiwitea Street. Many City players, including Kilkolly, are part of coaching programmes in local schools. Not to find the next elite players, necessarily, but to provide mentorship, promote healthy lifestyles and inclusivity. Advertisement In partnership with local government and charitable foundations, the club are also raising funding for a new NZ$6million (£2.7m; $3.6m) all-weather surface and other facilities that will serve local children from a multi-cultural region facing socio-economic challenges. For Kilkolly and the other City players, this is the legacy aspect of their Club World Cup participation. 'That's 100 per cent it — we're looking at what we're leaving behind and Auckland football is going to be in a better position than when we started,' he says. 'You're not going to see the return on some of these things in the next 10 or 20 years, but it's about us as a side doing our part in history. There's going to be an all-weather pitch built at Mount Roskill and kids will be able to play football through the winter. Before you know it, there might be kids from Mount Roskill making the first team at Auckland City. 'There is a greater good here. We are the working-class team at this Club World Cup, showing that you can come from any sort of area in life.' One of Kilkolly's team-mates, Michael den Heijer, fell into football as a young boy. During a childhood that he says 'had some interesting times', the sport provided sanctuary. 'My family life was unsettled,' Den Heijer says. 'My parents separated when I was 12 and football was just this safe space where I could get away from some of the issues at home.' A ball-playing defender or midfielder, Den Heijer's journey through the sport has taken him a long way. When The Athletic speaks to him, the team have arrived in the U.S. and settled into their hotel in Philadelphia, where they were to play a tournament warm-up friendly against the B team of local MLS side Philadelphia Union. Den Heijer is 29. He was a New Zealand youth international and was in the squad for the 2013 Under-17 World Cup in Sweden. In his later teens, he successfully trialled with Kashiwa Reysol in Japan, but struggled to adapt to the culture and language. He returned home, where routes into professional football are almost non-existent. Advertisement 'It must be one of the hardest careers to pick,' he says. 'In New Zealand, it must be harder than becoming a heart surgeon.' He is joking, of course, but footballing's heartlands were certainly a long way away. Still, Den Heijer made that leap of faith again, setting off for Europe this time, on the strength of vague promises from strangers. 'It's very hard to get an opportunity, but there was one on LinkedIn where some agent told me he had a club for me in Germany, near Berlin, and that I should come and take a look,' he says. 'I remember turning up to the hostel where they wanted me to sleep and there were people on the doorstep who looked like they had been taking heroin, and the room inside was a shambles. I called the agent and said, 'Sorry, this is not for me. Can you take me to the train station?'.' He travelled by rail to the Netherlands, where he would spend three years at second-tier NEC Nijmegen. But he would never make a senior appearance for them and was released in 2019. Spells with SV DFS in the sixth division of Dutch football and FC Kleve, a German fifth-tier side, followed. Den Heijer has psychological scars from that period. The lowest points were desolate and full of perilous financial insecurity, exacerbated eventually by the Covid-19 pandemic. 'You need ultimate self-belief to succeed in Europe and that's something I lacked,' he says. 'I didn't have a sporting mentor in my life and I was over there by myself. The toughest moments were hard. Being released by NEC, but then not having anywhere to go because I hadn't featured in many games… I had no money. They were really, really tough times.' Den Heijer took jobs where he could, including selling ornamental trees for a company run by one of DFS's sponsors. 'The town makes money from growing those trees and selling them all over Europe,' he explains. 'I would be standing in nursery fields, tying trees to bamboo fences and then putting them in trucks. I thought, 'What am I doing? This is not my dream'. But when I thought about coming back to New Zealand, that would be like admitting I'd failed.' The option was soon taken away. Lockdowns prevented Den Heijer and his partner, who he met during those days in the Netherlands, from travelling to New Zealand until March 2021. But when he did get back, it was a turning point. He signed initially with Auckland United, his current team's local rivals, before joining City in 2023. In the period since, he has helped win the domestic National League once, and OFC Champions League three times, and is now participating in his third Club World Cup. Advertisement Away from football, he is a program co-ordinator for a not-for-profit organisation called the Life Changer Foundation, which provides preventative health and well-being programmes to young people. Reading between the lines, it seems a way of providing youngsters with support that, years ago when Den Heijer's career was falling apart, he could have used himself. 'It just clicked,' he says. 'Now I have a team that I look after, delegating who goes into which school. I work about 30 hours a week. Some days I'm in the schools facilitating, and then I'll head off to training after school finishes, four nights a week. 'I'm leaving home at 7.30am, then straight to training afterwards. Some days, I do coaching as part of the Mount Roskill Foundation. 'Young people are not taught some of the skills that are needed to cope with life's challenges. When I think about some of the tougher moments I had as a teenager, they came about because my mom was in such a tough place after the separation from my dad.' Den Heijer seems in a good place now. He's good-humoured and quick to laugh. He admits to being 'nervous and excited' about the tournament, but it seems more like a reward for having survived the adversity that he has encountered, rather than a final challenge. His father, his stepmother and partner will all be in the States, travelling from game to game to support City. His mother will be back home in front of the TV, bursting with pride. 'She's always been a quiet watcher,' he adds. 'She'll just send me a text before the games: 'Run like the wind'.'
