Liverpool aren’t prepared to meet Newcastle’s reported asking price for Alexander Isak, according to one journalist who’s been following the situation closely.
The Reds made an offer of £110m for the Swedish striker at the start of this month, but that was flatly rejected by the St James’ Park hierarchy, who value him at a significantly higher £150m (The Guardian).
With three weeks to go in the summer transfer window, it remains to be seen whether the Premier League champions will go back in with another attempt to land the 25-year-old, although Fabrizio Romano has indicated that Anfield chiefs continue to strike towards completing a deal for the Magpies’ number 14.
How much would Liverpool be prepared to pay for Isak?
Speaking on talkSPORT on Monday, Alex Crook claimed that Liverpool won’t go as high as £150m for Isak, but there could be a possibility that the two clubs eventually compromise on a fee in order to get the transfer done.
The journalist said: “They [Newcastle] want £150m. Sources are telling me Liverpool won’t pay that and that, actually, the initial bid that went in wasn’t too far away from what they think Newcastle will accept.
“Obviously Newcastle are going to drive for the highest possible price. Liverpool are going to try and do it cheaper, and probably they end up meeting somewhere in the middle.”
Will Liverpool eventually persuade Newcastle to sell Isak?
The Reds had several offers rejected for Florian Wirtz before eventually agreeing a £116m deal with Bayer Leverkusen, who were initially holding out for almost £130m, and FSG might be hoping for a similar story with their pursuit of Isak.
With Romano outlining that the striker remains adamant that he wants the move to Liverpool, there’s a plausible chance that Newcastle could ultimately decide to cash in on the 25-year-old, provided that the Merseysiders can offer them something significantly closer to £150m.
It’d likely require an outlay of at least £125m for the Magpies to relent in their hitherto firm stance on the Sweden international, although LFC mightn’t be prepared to go much higher than that.
Despite initial reports to the contrary, it’d be surprising if the Reds don’t submit at least one more bid for Isak before the end of August, especially with the two clubs facing off at St James’ Park in a fortnight’s time in a serendipitous quirk of the Premier League fixture list.
With Newcastle continuing to heavily pursue Brentford’s Yoane Wissa, it appears that they’re bracing themselves to lose the Swedish striker and duly want to have a replacement in the building to soften the blow of potentially having their top scorer from last season prised away from them.
We expect that Liverpool will try their luck with another offer for the 25-year-old in the coming days, in which case every Reds fans will be waiting with bated breath for the response from Tyneside.
If the management want £150m..
then that’s what they will hold out for ..
I’m sure they would rather he stayed for at least one more season ..but Newcastle hold all the aces here ..the owners don’t particularly need the money and Isak has been truly ill advised by his agent ..
PSR isn’t an issue right now so if they ( Isak / Agent / Liverpool ) are trying to make the club “blink” they are messing with the wrong people ..
As a fan in my eyes he truly has undone everything he’s achieved with his crass attitude..he really couldn’t give a toss about the supporters who idolised him..and I’ve absolutely no sympathy for the bloke whatsoever..
Newcastle don’t hold one major card i.e the player wants to leave. That’s central to any discussions. Only very strong clubs can keep unsettled players and Newcastle are not one of that group.
3 years left on his contract … stick him with the young uns for 3 years
People keep saying he has been “badly advised”. He’s an adult and he can make his own mind up. He has acted appallingly to the people who are paying his wages (i.e. the club) … let him rot (from a St James’ Park season ticket holder)
We shall see! Do you know who PIF are? Multi-billion investment company! They dont f*ck around!
Too right, players and agents hold all the cards nowadays unfortunately
Two sides to every story. Newcastle reneged on a promise to increase his wages, so can you blame him if he doesn’t trust the club? He’s ambitious and wants to win the Premier League and Champions League, not just participate.
How do the expect to get the best out of a disgruntled player? Keeping Isak in Newcastle is nothing but foolish pride. Get the money and invest in his replacement. At the end, there might be a bright side to this.
Isak needs to help his desired move to LFC out here by strongly insisting to Newcastle that HE WANTS TO MOVE TO LFC!! He needs to sysrt making some serious noise about this now to get this deal done!!
Isak needs to help his desired move to LFC out here by strongly insisting to Newcastle that HE WANTS TO MOVE TO LFC!! He needs to start making some serious noise about this now to get this deal done!!