Newcastle are standing firm against Liverpool’s perceived attempts to “bully” them into selling Alexander Isak and going on the counter-offensive.
Football Insider revealed on 15 July that Liverpool had made a mammoth £130million offer for Isak as they look to fix their issues at number nine.
There has been plenty of interest in the Swedish striker. Striker is arguably the most in-demand position this summer window and there are very few high-quality options on the market.
Arsenal and Barcelona are also thought to have had an interest in Isak, but Newcastle placed a prohibitively high asking price on their prized asset before the window opened in an attempt to ward off interest in the 25-year-old.
But after several seasons of sparse transfer activity and a Premier League title, Liverpool have a seemingly bottomless transfer kitty to dip into and want to make the former Borussia Dortmund their latest big-money signing, after securing Florian Wirtz’s services from Bayer Leverkusen in June.
However, according to The Telegraph, Newcastle’s bosses remain unbothered by a “blatant attempt” to unsettle Isak from the Reds.
Newcastle unmoved by Liverpool pressure for Isak
As reported, Newcastle’s hierarchy “remained unflustered” by Liverpool’s “blatant attempt to unsettle Isak”.
This comes after news of the Reds’ willingness to offer a huge fee for the forward was “leaked into the public domain”.
Sources at Liverpool have “strenuously denied” that they are attempting to unsettle Isak.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), who own Newcastle, are less than impressed with a “perceived attempt to bully them into selling Isak by a domestic rival”.
Liverpool reportedly threatened they would hijack the Magpies’ move for Hugo Ekitike this summer if the North Eastern club refused to sell Isak to them.
Rather than cede to pressure from the reigning Premier League champions, Newcastle are set to go toe-to-toe with the Merseyside club as they look to keep hold of Isak, whilst also adding the French striker to their ranks.
The Swedish striker has not told anyone at Newcastle he wants an exit, “but things could change”, and Liverpool are unlikely to end their pursuit of Isak any time soon.
Knives out as Liverpool and Newcastle battle over strikers
This is where the fun begins. Spurred on by the opportunity to add generationally talented strikers to their squads, Newcastle and Liverpool are going to battle.
From a Magpie perspective, it is easy to see why there may be some frustrations over the approach for Isak.
Liverpool have not been shy about their interest in the striker and letting the world know of their intentions to make the 25-year-old the Premier League‘s most expensive player ever has clearly been done to get in the forward’s head.
However, this is how the transfer market goes; this is the game you sign up to play.
It would be no surprise to see Newcastle hold firm and keep Isak this summer, given the striker is under contract until 2028 and the Magpies will have no issues matching the wages Liverpool can offer.
What’s more, if the Swede was paired with Ekitike, all of a sudden Eddie Howe’s side have the best attacking duo in the country and an outside chance to wreak havoc on the Premier League title race.
Who knows how this saga will finish, but what is for sure, this transfer story is shaping up to be an entertaining one.