Liverpool are reportedly keen on Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak but are unwilling to engage in a bidding war for the Sweden international.
The 25-year-old forward was recently observed training alone on Tyneside, having been excluded from the Magpies’ pre-season tours to Singapore and South Korea amidst swirling transfer speculation.
The Anfield club’s interest in Isak, who netted the winning goal against them in last season’s Carabao Cup final, is well-documented.
They previously submitted a substantial offer of approximately £110m, which Newcastle promptly rejected.
This cautious approach comes as Liverpool anticipates the completion of Darwin Nunez’s proposed 53 million euros (around £46.3 million) transfer, plus bonuses, to Saudi club Al Hilal.
Despite Newcastle’s repeated assertions that Isak, acquired from Real Sociedad for £63m in summer 2022, is not for sale and has three years remaining on his contract, the player himself has indicated a desire to explore his options this transfer window.
His resistance to signing a new, long-term deal at St James’ Park appears to have bolstered Liverpool’s belief that they might yet secure his services from head coach Eddie Howe’s squad.
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.
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.
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.
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.
