Transfer battle for Isak and Ekitike is a true test of Newcastle’s ambition

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Those inside Newcastle United knew this moment would come, when the essence of their challenger status would itself be challenged.

How the club’s decision-makers respond to Liverpool’s attempts to lure Alexander Isak away to Anfield will tell us a lot about Newcastle’s true trajectory in the short-to-medium term.

Establishing themselves firmly among the footballing “elite” — or as “No 1”, as Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the club chairman and governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Newcastle’s 85 per cent majority owner, puts it — is what they say they aspire to.

Newcastle have made rapid, if stunted, progress inside four years, post-takeover. But the cliche really does apply now: actions will speak louder than words.

For months, the club have been unequivocal, both publicly and privately: Isak is going nowhere.

In March, Darren Eales, their outgoing CEO, described the idea of accepting an offer for Isak this summer as “crazy”. Eddie Howe, the head coach, insisted as recently as May that the Sweden international “is not for sale from my perspective”. The noises have always been that Newcastle believe Isak is borderline invaluable to them, with suggestions that offers north of £150million ($200m) would be required for them to even entertain the prospect of parting with the 25-year-old.

On Monday, The Athletic reported that Newcastle were aiming to pull off a coup by acquiring much-coveted French striker Hugo Ekitike from Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt.

The messaging from those inside the club was clear: this is not a case of signing Ekitike and selling Isak, but using them together in the same attack. Before a return to the Champions League when its 2025-26 edition kicks off in September, this felt like a game-changing declaration of intent.

Eddie Howe does not want Alexander Isak to be sold (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

By Tuesday, The Athletic reported that Liverpool have communicated their willingness to pay £120million for Isak. This did not come in the form of an official bid, though, and felt like a testing of Newcastle’s position, especially given it is short of any abstract asking price (even if it does represent an astronomical fee).

As of Wednesday morning, the response from the top at Newcastle remained unchanged. Three simple words — “not for sale” — are being repeated, time and again.

Their stance has been beyond bullish up to this point. Isak has three years remaining on his contract, Newcastle ideally want to tie him down to an extension and, unlike in June last year, they have no need to sell to ensure compliance with the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).

Al-Rumayyan is a huge fan of Isak and has made it clear that he will not countenance a player described as his favourite being sold.

The theory appears sound, but now Liverpool are testing it.

Newcastle are owned by one of the world’s richest sovereign wealth funds, and in just under four years it has helped transform the club from top-flight relegation fodder into trophy winners and Champions League participants. Their squad has a variety of talented players, including Isak, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon. They appear to be closing in on the world’s elite sides — but a significant gap remains, one that can be measured in finances, prestige, titles and pulling power.

Were Isak to be tempted by the idea of joining Liverpool — the assumption is he would be, but that’s all it is — then few would be surprised, and it would make keeping hold of him more difficult, especially if he agitated to leave (something Newcastle have always felt he would not do, another prediction that may be stress-tested).

While Liverpool may not be as alluring to modern players as Real Madrid or Barcelona, they are the current Premier League champions and arguably England’s closest equivalent of the two La Liga superclubs.

So, this feels like a critical juncture in Newcastle’s attempts to cement themselves as members of the modern footballing gentry.

Ekitike is wanted by Newcastle and Liverpool (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Yes, selling Isak for £120m-plus would essentially extinguish any PSR constraints for the foreseeable future and could be reinvested into the squad. Should Ekitike be acquired — which, given Liverpool have formalised their interest in him, is far from certain — he would represent a ready-made replacement with money left over to spend elsewhere.

Ekitike is nearly three years younger than Isak and is unproven in the Premier League but has world-class potential.

However, substituting Ekitike for Isak would represent a calculated gamble — just as signing the Sweden international did in August 2022 — because the Frenchman will still have to translate his talents into English football.

Winning the race for Ekitike would constitute a genuine statement, especially after he rejected a move to Tyneside in 2022. It would add greater credence to the idea that perceptions of Newcastle in the game are shifting.

More important, however, is how they handle Liverpool’s pursuit of Isak.

Questions have been raised about PIF’s commitment, given the lack of (promised) communication on what is happening in terms of St James’ Park’s future and the failure to build a new training ground. Such scepticism has always been dismissed by senior figures, who insist financial backing is evidence of the owners’ ambitions and that such critical investment calls will be made in time.

With that in mind, nothing would be more informative of how serious their intentions are than resisting Liverpool’s overtures.

Even if Newcastle are left with an unhappy player and end up accepting an offer for Isak in 12 months’ time, at least that might make more business sense as he would be entering the final two years of his contract.

Selling now could have an extremely damaging effect.

Newcastle’s position has been so categorical that, should they relent, the signals it would send have the potential to set the project back considerably. Other top clubs may sense weakness and look to pick off other key players, who may begin to doubt their futures on Tyneside.

Should Liverpool beat them to signing Ekitike, it would be a blow, but a bearable one. The fallout of Isak moving to Anfield would be felt for years.

Beyond being deprived of his quality and goals, Newcastle would be losing further ground on the game’s established elite.

Those three words have been repeated countless times by those at Newcastle, but this represents the ultimate examination of whether Isak really is “not for sale”.

(Top photos: Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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