Two prominent Liverpool journalists have implored the club not to sell one exit-linked player in the final week of the summer transfer window.The Reds’ first goal in their 2-2 draw away to Newcastle on Sunday was netted by Cody Gakpo with an emphatic low finish past Lukas Hornicek, with the Dutchman having now scored seven goals in his last eight matches for club and country.The 27-year-old has been the subject of rumours over a potential move to Tottenham Hotspur, who’ve viewed him as a ‘serious option’ to bolster their attack according to Florian Plettenberg, but the clamour for him to remain at Anfield has ramped up after his exploits at St James’ Park yesterday.Liverpool urged not to sell Cody GakpoJames Pearce wrote for The Athletic: ‘Even if [Liverpool] get Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola on board, they need to resist any temptation to cash in on Cody Gakpo, who has been pursued by Tottenham Hotspur.‘Gakpo, who scored their first equaliser at St James’ Park with a clinical 20-yarder, provides the added value of being able to operate through the middle as well as off the left, so the Dutchman can deputise for Isak when required.’(Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)In the Liverpool Echo, Ian Doyle concurred: ‘Cody Gakpo was easily Liverpool’s most potent attacker here and looks anything but a player who would welcome a move away. Gakpo surely cannot be sold.’Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustGakpo is very much needed at Liverpool right nowIf there had been any debate as to whether or not the Reds might cash in on their number 18, that surely ended yesterday – he was by far our biggest attacking threat on an afternoon when, for the most part, we were all too impotent in the final third.Alexander Isak looked a pale shadow of the striker who’d previously lit up St James’ Park in the colours of Newcastle, while Rio Ngumoha seems far more comfortable in his natural left-sided position than on the right, where he struggled to make an impact against Newcastle.Federico Chiesa’s omission from the matchday squad would hint that he simply isn’t in Andoni Iraola’s plans, and Pearce has said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Italian and Harvey Elliott were sold in the final days of the transfer window.(Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images)Gakpo, on the other hand, simply must be retained. In addition to his brilliantly-taken goal, his underlying performance figures (via Sofascore) were also impressive.Pete O’Rourke told Football Insider earlier this month that Liverpool would only countenance selling the Dutchman if Spurs were to offer £70m+ and the Reds bring in more attackers before the transfer deadline on Tuesday week.Even if a sale at that price would yield a significant profit on the £44m for which they signed Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven, the 27-year-old is simply too important to Iraola’s side right now to be put on the market.Thankfully, with Spurs likely to complete a double raid on Manchester City for Savinho and Omar Marmoush (Sky Sports), their interest in our number 18 might diminish if they feel they’d have enough in attack.The post ‘Cannot be sold’ – Liverpool urged to ‘resist any temptation’ to cash in on £70m wizard appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.