Liverpool star reveals impact of grief on new season mindset | OneFootball

Grief, Glory and the Game: Cody Gakpo on Life at Liverpool After Loss

Strength through sorrow

“Unity is strength” is more than a slogan sewn into a banner on the Kop. For Liverpool Football Club, it has become a guiding principle during its darkest days. In July 2025, the club lost more than just a footballer. It lost a brother, a father, a teammate, a friend. Diogo Jota’s tragic death, alongside his brother André Silva, in a car accident in Spain has left an indelible scar on the collective heart of the club.

Photo IMAGO

Cody Gakpo speaks softly now, his voice carrying the weight of absence, in a recent interview with The Athletic “Yeah, it’s been very difficult,” he says. The players were scattered across the globe when the news broke, yet they returned not just to training, but to each other. “We tried to be there as much as we could at that moment for the family and together as a team to help wherever we could.”

Football, that great distractor, resumed. But not without its rituals. At Preston North End, after the final whistle of a pre-season friendly, Liverpool players stood in silence. Gakpo calls it “emotional.” For seven minutes, they listened. Not to tactics or instructions, but to the song of Jota, looping in the stands, echoing across Lancashire skies like a hymn.

Photo: IMAGO

Remembering the man, not just the player

Tributes have been wide and rich. Liverpool have retired the No 20 shirt. A sculpture is being planned for Anfield. Players will wear a “Forever 20” emblem all season. But these gestures, as Gakpo explains, serve a deeper purpose. “We want to remember who he was to us. Not as a player… but more as the person he was.”

In a footballing culture often focused on numbers, contracts and transfer value, there is something painfully pure in the way the club has responded. Jota’s legacy, etched not just in goals but in memory, has unified a city and its team.

Gakpo, among the most vocal of his teammates, attended the funeral in Portugal, visited the shrine outside Anfield, and continues to lead by example. The grief is not performative. It is lived.

Focus sharpens ahead of new season

As Liverpool prepare for their final pre-season friendlies against Athletic Club, Gakpo is looking forward, albeit with the weight of loss behind him. “It was my best return for Liverpool, but I always strive to be better and do more,” he reflects on last season’s 18-goal haul.

Photo: IMAGO

Slot, his compatriot, has found the key to unlocking Gakpo’s best. Positioned off the left, his combination of strength, movement and final-third intuition makes him an essential figure in this team. Injury stalled his rhythm last season, but the Dutch forward insists he’s now fully fit and focused.

“I tried to come back as quickly as possible… but unfortunately, I had a setback,” he says of the ankle issue that derailed his spring form. Now, the objective is simple: stay fit, stay sharp, and stay productive.

Title defence and European hunger

Liverpool enter the new campaign as Premier League champions, but the pain of near misses still lingers. A loss to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final and a penalty shootout defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League left a bitter aftertaste. “It was a close call… but they went on to win the Champions League, so it was like: ‘Oh, if only we had beaten them…’,” Gakpo muses.

Photo: IMAGO

The squad has been bolstered with £300 million worth of new talent, including Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike. These aren’t squad fillers. These are statements of intent. Liverpool, under Slot, are not content with what they’ve already achieved.

“It was amazing,” Gakpo says of the title celebrations in May. “When you have those as a team, you get hungry for more.”

Indeed, the city of Liverpool knows triumph well, but it never takes it for granted. As Gakpo and his teammates march into another campaign, they carry not just the weight of expectation, but the memory of a friend whose absence has deepened their resolve.

Our View – Anfield Index Analysis

This interview with Gakpo is everything you expect from a Liverpool player: grounded, emotional and entirely committed. He is fast becoming one of the pillars of this new era. Not just in goals and assists, but in character.

What’s striking here is how openly the squad has embraced grief, rather than hiding from it. Fans feel that too. The scenes at Anfield, the songs, the scarves, the quiet dignity of it all, it makes you proud to support this club.

From a footballing point of view, Gakpo looks ready to hit another level. His chemistry with Slot and confidence in his role off the left makes him one to watch this season. He already delivered last year, and with Ekitike and Wirtz now in the squad, he may get more space and supply than ever before.

We know what this club can achieve when it’s united. And if Gakpo is this driven, both emotionally and tactically, then the memory of Jota could push this team to even greater heights. That’s not just sentiment, that’s strength.