Liverpool have made an approach to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle United.
The Merseyside club say no formal offer has been submitted as they are well aware Newcastle’s stance has always been that Isak is not for sale. However, they have communicated their interest to do a deal in the region of £120million.
Liverpool’s admiration for the 25-year-old is long-standing, while Eintracht Frankfurt forward Hugo Ekitike has also been among those on their radar. There has been no official contact from Liverpool to Eintracht. Newcastle are working to recruit Ekitike but have yet to reach an agreement with Eintracht or the 23-year-old France youth international.
Sensitivities around Liverpool remain understandably high following the tragic death of Diogo Jota earlier this month, but there is an awareness they need to make further additions this summer. The Athletic reported on Tuesday that Liverpool’s focus when it comes to incomings is on finding a top No 9 as they seek to strengthen their forward line.
Liverpool have already broken their transfer record this summer with the addition of attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for an initial fee of £100m with a potential £16m due in add-ons.
Earlier on Tuesday, Liverpool rejected a €67.5m bid from Bayern Munich for winger Luis Diaz, with the Colombian making clear he wants to leave the Premier League side.
Isak has scored 62 goals in 109 appearances for Newcastle since joining from Real Sociedad in a deal worth in the region of £60m. Last season was his most prolific in England as he registered 27 goals in 42 games as Newcastle qualified for the Champions League with a fifth-place Premier League finish. He has three years remaining on his contract.
Liverpool are without an established first choice up front. Federico Chiesa is considered an option there, while Napoli and Al Hilal have been monitoring Darwin Nunez. It is expected that a move for him will progress again soon.
‘Liverpool mean business’
Analysis by Liverpool correspondent Gregg Evans
The interest in Isak highlights the determination at Liverpool to build on last season’s title success and dominate for years to come.
Discussions around strengthening the centre-forward position have taken place for some time and were likely to advance this summer, even before the tragic passing of Diogo Jota.
Liverpool have always been aware of the difficulty of doing a deal to take Isak out of Newcastle United, and understand that they would have to fix up Darwin Nunez with a move elsewhere to cover some of the cost.
Yet the desire to bring in a player of his quality, even after the club-record signing of No. 10 Florian Wirtz, shows they mean business and are serious about staying out in front.
They have remained patient in their pursuit of a new striker by allowing other opportunities to pass and insist that a new arrival would only be signed off if it represented a significant improvement to the current squad.
Isak with his proven Premier League record and tactical flexibility fits perfectly and would give an already-elite forward line another boost.
Adding him to a forward line with Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, and Cody Gakpo would create further competition and bring even more goals and creativity to the side.
‘A one-of-a-kind centre-forward’
Analysis by data writer Thom Harris
Isak is a one-of-a-kind centre-forward, standing tall at 6ft 4in (193cm), yet incredibly technically gifted and light on his feet when he moves forward with the ball. He likes to drift across the attacking third to get on the ball, where he can slalom away from defenders with a unique blend of agility and power.
His assist against Everton back in April 2023, leaving five defenders in his wake after a twisting run down the left flank, remains one of the greatest examples of his elusive dribbling ability.
On top of that, Isak is clinical in front of goal, a clean striker of the ball on both sides. He’s scored 21 and 23 league goals across his last two seasons with Newcastle, and we’ve seen a wide range of sweeping finishes into the corners, instinctive close-range finishes and thumping efforts from the edge of the box. His emphatic strike against Liverpool last December was named the most powerfully struck goal in the Premier League last season.
He’s also lethal on the counter-attack — only Mohamed Salah has generated more expected goals (xG) from fast breaks since the start of last season — an efficient decision-maker who is difficult to stop with momentum on his side. That bodes well for Arne Slot’s side, the highest scorers from such situations last season.
After the signing of Florian Wirtz, this would be another resounding statement of intent from Liverpool, looking to assemble a front-line bursting with creativity, technical ability and ruthlessness at speed.
‘Potential loss of Isak would be seismic’
Analysis by Newcastle correspondent Chris Waugh
Just as an incoming deal for Ekitike is not yet close to being concluded, conclusions should not yet be raced to regarding Isak. This is a mammoth prospective offer but, if the bullish stance Newcastle have adopted publicly and privately all year is to be believed, then it is still significantly short of what they would want.
Newcastle have long insisted Isak is not for sale at any price. But that has always felt reliant on Isak’s own stance. The club have never expected him to push to leave but, should he be attracted by the prospect of moving to Anfield, perhaps that changes now an approach has been made.
The potential loss of Isak would be seismic and cannot really be understated. He has scored 54 goals in 86 Premier League games, including 23 last season, and has proven himself to be consistently world class.
Ekitike is a fine prospect and has decent pedigree, but he does not have Isak’s proven track record in the Premier League. Signing the Frenchman would definitely soften the blow of losing Isak, should the Sweden international depart, but that eventuality will still dent Newcastle, given they have been adamant that they would not lose their star striker.
The situation has not escalated as quickly as that yet but, whether incoming or outgoing wise, Newcastle’s transfer business is attracting worldwide attention right now.
(Photo: George Wood/Getty Images)