Newcastle have rejected an offer from Liverpool for striker Alexander Isak.
The Sweden international has told the Carabao Cup winners he wants to explore the possibility of a move away from St James’ Park and Liverpool, who had made an inquiry about the 25-year-old last month, followed it up with a formal bid.
Isak would be expected to command a price of over £100m and more than the club record sum Liverpool have paid for Florian Wirtz this summer.
Newcastle had long maintained that Isak was not for sale, but Liverpool are testing that position and manager Eddie Howe has admitted his top scorer’s future could be out of his hands.
Howe left Isak out of the defeat to Celtic because of speculation and Isak missed Newcastle’s pre-season tour of Asia with what the club described as a minor thigh injury, while he has been training with his former club Real Sociedad in a bid to return to fitness.
Liverpool have spent around £250m this summer, which can rise to £300m including add-ons and the deal for goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, which was announced last year, but the Premier League champions are determined to be ambitious in their recruitment and head coach Arne Slot has said they will target the best players.
They have brought in around £130m this summer, with the £65.5m sale of Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich meaning they have lost one attacker. The Colombian spent some of last season operating as a centre-forward and scored 17 goals in the campaign.
However, Liverpool have already paid an initial £69m for Hugo Ekitike, who they see primarily as a No 9 and who was also a target for Newcastle.
Newcastle have also been frustrated in their attempts to buy a host of other forwards, including Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Bryan Mbeumo but while they are interested in Brentford’s Yoane Wissa, they are yet to conclude a deal for him, while their only major signing this transfer window is winger Anthony Elanga.
Isak scored 23 Premier League goals for Newcastle last season as well as a Carabao Cup final strike against Liverpool. He has three years left on his contract at Newcastle but is now unlikely to sign an extension.
