With a few hours left to the closing of the transfer window, Liverpool FC have come to terms with Newcastle on the signing of 25 year old Swedish national, Alexander Isak. The month-long negotiations following the move came to an end with a British record fee of £130m. This will surpass the Premier League transfer record held by Liverpool from Florian Wirtz’s £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen earlier this summer.
Isak will become the first Swede to play for Liverpool in the Premier League and is now set for medicals on Monday ahead of a six-year deal at Anfield. The youngster whose spell at Newcastle was ladened with 62 goals and 11 assists in 109 appearances for the club is set to bring that firepower to Anfield. Also poised to join Isak at Liverpool is center-back Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace.
Sources revealed that majority stakeholders of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund were, for the first time, willing to cash in on their star player.
What does this mean for Newcastle?
With the transfer window closing in a few hours, Newcastle are left in an awkwardly ridiculous position after letting their striker go. They have, however, resumed talks with Chelsea over the release of Nicolas Jackson but are also involved with other alternatives like Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Jorgen Strand Larsen and Brentford’s Yoane Wissa. They are quite confident that a new centre-forward will arrive before the close of the window. Be that as it may, Newcastle who had completed Club record signing of striker Nick Woltemade last week were made to change their position on Isak after a delegation led by members of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and co-owner Jamie Reuben, made a social call to Isak at his home. Isak then refused to commit to the club for another year in reward for a new contract, with a release clause that would allow him to leave for a set price in 12 months’ time. This led Newcastle to agree to letting the player go after pleading with him to stay for another year.
There will be anger and frustration among supporters following the move but in the end Newcastle had to make the best out of a bad situation. While this is not good for Newcastle, it is a great development for Liverpool who would be going all out for the trophy again this season.
The Liverpool side
Isak will join the likes of Hugo Ekitike, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo on the frontline for Liverpool offering a strong support going forward for the team.
Liverpool who are yet to loose a game this season will take a trip to Turf Moor, Burnley this weekend and may bring on Isak. He is regarded as one of the best strikers in the world who offers a huge aerial presence with his 6’4″ frame while possessing notable pace, strength and skills with the ball. This allows him to manoeuvre through tight spaces and outsmart defenders. His composure in finishing goalscoring opportunities with both feet, will be a huge addition to the Liverpool side. The Swedish striker has great link up play and passing abilities allowing teammates to join in on the attack. Isak also portrays intelligence in positioning and off the ball movement which causes difficulty for opposition defenders, opening up spaces for himself and teammates to exploit defensive lines. Off possession, Isak’s workrate and defensive positioning have also been highlighted as key features of his game. Isak has also been used as a solo striker, a left winger and in a two-man setup.
