Liverpool will not be held to ransom in pursuit of Alexander Isak

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5 days ago

Liverpool will not be held to ransom in their pursuit of Newcastle striker Alexander Isak.
The PA news agency understands the Premier League champions remain keen on the 25-year-old Sweden international, who was made to train by himself on Tyneside on Wednesday after missing the Magpies' pre-season trip to Singapore and South Korea amid speculation over his future.
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However, as they await completion of Darwin Nunez's proposed €53 million – around £46.3million – plus bonuses move to Saudi club Al Hilal, sources on Merseyside indicated they would not enter a bidding war as they sought a replacement.
Alexander Isak scored what proved to be Newcastle's winning goal against Liverpool in last season's Carabao Cup final (Owen Humphreys/PA)
Liverpool's admiration of Isak, who scored what proved to be the winning goal against them in last season's Carabao Cup final at Wembley, is well known and they have already tabled a bid of around £110m, which was swiftly rejected.
Newcastle have repeatedly insisted the Swede, for whom they paid Real Sociedad £63m during the summer of 2022, is simply not for sale and with three years remaining on his existing contract, they hold a strong position in one sense.
However Isak, who signalled his intention to explore his options during the current transfer window, has so far resisted all overtures to sign a new, long-term deal at St James' Park and that appears to have encouraged the Anfield club that they may be able to prise him from head coach Eddie Howe's grasp.
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That said, the Reds are understood to have drawn up a series of criteria which will govern their pursuit of the former AIK Solna and Borussia Dortmund forward, or indeed alternative targets.
Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe (left) faces the task of trying to persuade Alexander Isak that his future remains on Tyneside (John Walton/PA)
Among them are an insistence that any replacement must be of the required quality, must represent fair market value and perhaps most importantly, must be realistically attainable.
In that context, Newcastle's asking price of £150m – which was designed to ward off potential suitors – would seem a significant obstacle, as would their long-held stance on his availability, although there is little doubt that he would meet the quality requirement having scored 27 goals in all competitions last season.
In addition, the Magpies' interest in RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko looks unlikely to come to fruition with Manchester United confident they are in the driving seat, complicating the search for a credible replacement with Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson having being touted as an option.
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Newcastle were already in the market for a striker following Callum Wilson's departure at the end of last season, but plugging the gap left by a man around whom Howe would ideally want to build his team, during a summer which has already proved intensely difficult, would be both difficult and expensive.
Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez is close to completing a move to Saudi club Al Hilal (Peter Byrne/PA)
The alternative is to persuade Isak that his future remains at St James' at least in the short term – there is little doubt that his head has been turned – and that is a task which would take all his manager's estimable powers.
It remains to be seen whether or not Liverpool will increase their offer for the player if and when the Nunez deal is finalised.
They will bank a significant proportion of the 75m euros – around £65.4m – plus bonuses they paid Benfica for the 26-year-old Uruguay international in June 2022, having rebuffed advances from Saudi Arabia in January and Napoli, who are understood not to have met the club's valuation and to have wanted to pay the fee over five years, this summer.
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