Cody Gakpo nominated for historic AWARD alongside Bellingham, Mbappe and Haaland

Despite not playing quite as much football as he might have liked, Cody Gakpo has started the season well.

In four starts across the Premier League, the Champions League and the EFL Cup, he has recorded two goals and two assists.

As such, Luis Diaz's grip on the left-wing position is not quite as firm as he'd like it to be, with Arne Slot able to mix things around should he want to.

Having finally been identified as a winger and not a striker, the Dutchman is in a role he feels much more suited to and the results are paying off when he gets his opportunities.

Read more: Saudi Arabia DETERMINED to strike HUGE FSG Liverpool deal

Gakpo nominated for IFFHS award

Liverpool ended the season in sub-optimal form, but nonetheless delivered a successful season as Jurgen Klopp's time at the club came to an end.

And after a few weeks' break, players were back out with their national teams, as Gakpo delivered a number of impressive performances for the Netherlands in the Euros, helping the side reach the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time.

In addition to his positive start to this campaign, he has been rewarded with recognition from the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.

He is named as one of the 30 nominees for this year's award, in a list not entirely dissimilar to that from the Ballon d'Or shortlist.

Superstars like Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are all present.

Liverpool widely snubbed from the award

Despite Gakpo rightly receiving a nomination for his efforts, it is certainly surprising that he is the only member of Liverpool's talented number of players to have been singled out.

By no means has he been Liverpool's best player over the course of 2024, so it seems fair to conclude that the IFFHS has largely snubbed Liverpool for an underwhelming campaign last season - despite winning a trophy in February.

15 of the 30 nominees are from Real Madrid, Manchester City and Arsenal, with centre-backs William Saliba and Ruben Dias up for nomination - which is somewhat a slap in the face for Virgil Van Dijk, who has been in fine form throughout the year as well as performing for the Netherlands as Gakpo did.

And while the recognition for Gakpo is certainly welcome, it is peculiar that he is the Reds' sole representative at the ceremony, which will take place towards the end of the year.

He is unlikely to feature towards the top of the final standings, given the successes of his fellow nominees - but it seems Liverpool have one of the 30 best players in the world, so it's hardly a bad thing.

Read more: Liverpool set to hand debuts to four players against Leipzig