Liverpool are right to test Newcastle’s resolve – Alexander Isak would be a dream signing

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Liverpool certainly can’t be accused of lacking ambition.

Just a month after shattering their transfer record to sign playmaker Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee potentially rising to £116million ($155m), the Premier League champions are prepared to go even higher to land the No 9 of their supporters’ dreams.

There has been no formal offer submitted to Newcastle United for Alexander Isak, but Liverpool have communicated their interest to do a deal for around £120m.

Newcastle remain adamant that the prolific Sweden international, who has three years remaining on his contract, is not for sale. However, they have plenty to ponder, as they work on a deal to sign Eintracht Frankfurt forward Hugo Ekitike for around £65million.

If Newcastle refuse to sell Isak for what would be a British record fee, then there’s the prospect of Liverpool switching their attention to Ekitike instead. That’s a race they would be confident of winning, but so far haven’t formally entered. The 23-year-old Frenchman enjoyed an excellent 2024-25 season, scoring 22 goals in all competitions. Frankfurt have been holding out for a package worth around £90million.

What’s clear is that something has to give because talk of Newcastle retaining Isak as well as signing Ekitike looks increasingly unlikely. It remains to be seen whether Isak will now agitate for the move and what impact it would have on Newcastle’s stance if he does. Profit and sustainability rules (PSR) also have to be considered, given the huge profit the club would pocket on the £60m fee they paid Real Sociedad for Isak three years ago.

Senior Anfield figures have long since known that trying to sign the 25-year-old this summer would be difficult, especially after Newcastle secured the financial windfall of qualification for the coming season’s Champions League.

Alexander Isak scores against Liverpool in January 2024 (Peter Powell/AFP/Getty Images)

However, they are right to test his club’s resolve because Isak is the most complete centre-forward around. You don’t move on to Plan B until you’re absolutely sure Plan A is out of reach. The answer to that will be known soon enough.

Only Liverpool’s own Mohamed Salah (29) bettered his total of 23 Premier League goals last season, and an overall return of 62 in 109 matches for Newcastle is impressive. Liverpool suffered at Isak’s hands as he scored in the 3-3 league draw at St James’ Park in December and repeated the trick three months later in Newcastle’s Carabao Cup final triumph at Wembley. He got goals against Liverpool in each of his two previous seasons in English football, too. With his movement, his athleticism and his clinical edge, he would be the perfect addition to head coach Arne Slot’s side.

Potential transfers remain a sensitive subject at Liverpool after the death of Diogo Jota, alongside his brother Andre Silva, in a car accident in Spain earlier this month. Players and staff are still coming to terms with the loss of a much-loved colleague and friend. It’s far from business as usual as they prepare to fly out on Sunday for a two-game pre-season tour to Hong Kong and Japan.

But the pursuit of a new No 9 has been on the agenda all summer, with Darwin Nunez set to move on. The Uruguayan has attracted interest from Italy’s Napoli and Saudi Pro League outfit Al Hilal.

Sporting director Richard Hughes has also been dealing with Bayern Munich’s ongoing pursuit of Luis Diaz. The Bundesliga champions had a bid of around £59million rejected on Tuesday, with Liverpool adamant the Colombian is not for sale. The 28-year-old enjoyed the best of his three full seasons with them in 2024-25 with 17 goals in 50 appearances across all competitions and Liverpool regard Al Hilal’s failed €100m (£87m) pursuit of Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes earlier this summer as setting the market value for a player of his stature.

Luis Diaz is keen for a new challenge (Peter Powell/AFP/Getty Images)

Diaz is keen to take on a new challenge but has two years left on his contract and needs to consider the optics of trying to force a move in the current climate surrounding Liverpool if he doesn’t want to damage his relationship with the fanbase.

There is little doubt, however, that the pursuit of Isak so soon after the eye-catching acquisition of Wirtz illustrates their determination to build on winning the Premier League title in Slot’s debut season.

Signing Jeremie Frimpong (€35million), Milos Kerkez (£40m), Giorgi Mamardashvili (£25m) and Armin Pecsi (£1.5m), along with Wirtz, had already made this the biggest transfer window spend in Liverpool’s history. While they have raised up to £64m from sales (a figure that will soon grow), taking their outlay to beyond £300m by acquiring Isak too would be a remarkable statement of intent.

Like Wirtz before him, Isak would be another example of them buying the finished article. Previously, Liverpool hadn’t done that since Alisson arrived from Roma in summer 2018, one window after the equally transformative signing of Virgil van Dijk.

During the Jurgen Klopp era, Liverpool largely bought potential and sought to develop players until they got into the world-class bracket. Kerkez, 21, fits into that category — a decent level of elite experience but with a high ceiling to make further progress. Frimpong has a weightier track record but is still young too at 24 and has time and scope to get better than he was for Leverkusen.

But Wirtz and Isak are the kind of elite performers who would walk into any top team. Their hefty pricetags underline that. The prospect of Wirtz playing behind a front three of Salah, Isak and either Diaz or Cody Gakpo is mouthwatering. If the Swede cannot be secured, Ekitike would still offer a major upgrade on the club’s current striker resources.

Being able to even consider a deal like this is a mark of where Liverpool are at currently.

Matchday revenues have moved to an all-time high as they feel the benefits of a redeveloped, 61,000-capacity Anfield, commercially they are continuing to expand with the new Adidas kit deal kicking in at the end of the month, and media income went through the roof off the back of their return to the Champions League last season. Winning the Premier League again further enhanced the landscape and they have much more leeway to spend this summer, having largely kept their powder dry in the market a year ago.

With both the pulling power and the financial muscle, Liverpool can afford to reach for the stars.

Isak would lift what is already the top flight’s most potent attack to new heights.

(Top photo: Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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