John Aldridge assesses the transfer window for Liverpool and what other business is now required ahead of the deadline
The Liverpool FC, Tranmere and Republic of Ireland great, Aldo’s lively and opinionated weekly column on LFC is a must read for all Reds fans.
Newcastle striker Alexander Isak(Image: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
It won’t be long before a large dose of reality hits Newcastle United about Alexander Isak. And they may well have to allow him to sign for Liverpool before the month is out.
Matters in the North East are starting to turn particularly ugly, and it will be very difficult to turn back the clock given the high emotions on both sides.
Listen, Liverpool have had great players in the past like Javier Mascherano, Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres who wanted to leave the club. There was a little bit of kicking and screaming, but ultimately we had to open the door and say close it behind you. You can’t keep hold of players who don’t want to be at your club.
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Believe me, it will mess Newcastle up by keeping Isak there if the striker has set his heart on signing for Liverpool.
It will do the training ground no good, it will do the team no good, the fans no good and the club as a whole no good.
The focus now from Newcastle is surely to get the best deal they can without completely pricing Isak out of Liverpool’s reach. The Reds will have a value for the player and Newcastle can’t afford to get too greedy.
I’m speaking from experience given what happened to me at Real Sociedad.
I loved playing for Sociedad. San Sebastian is a gorgeous place, but my wife couldn’t settle down and found it tough living there.
I told Sociedad I wanted to leave, and had to stick to my guns when they tried to force me to stay.
They had every right to do that as I’d signed a contract to play for them. But I told them family came first, and that while I was awfully sorry, I simply had to leave. Eventually Sociedad agreed.
Now, the circumstances aren’t the same, but the ultimate goal for Isak is no different – he wants a move to another club.
Liverpool certainly have money to spend big given the amount of sales that continued with the departure of Darwin Nunez at the weekend and the likely exit soon of Harvey Elliott.
It is intriguing Luis Diaz has gone too. Clearly, Arne Slot sees teenager Rio Ngumoha as an upcoming talent and doesn’t want his pathway to be completely blocked.
Liverpool do have other options on the left flank, with Cody Gakpo the first choice and both Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz also capable of playing there.
And I was impressed with Ekitike in the Community Shield against Crystal Palace on Sunday. He has good pace and strength and took his goal really well.
Got to go for Guehi
Alexander Isak would be a tremendous signing, but he wouldn’t be my priority. Ever since the sale of Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen, I’ve been telling everyone Liverpool drastically need a new centre-back.
That hasn’t changed. In fact, my view has only been strengthened by our performances during the summer.
It’s all very well Arne Slot saying Ryan Gravenberch or Wataru Endo can step in if required.
Don’t get me wrong – they will do a good job. But they will end up being caught out in the Premier League, which is extremely unforgiving for central defenders.
Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate are clearly the first choice centre-backs, and it wouldn’t be such a problem if Joe Gomez didn’t get injured quite so often.
But he does. And that means Liverpool can’t afford to let the September 1 deadline pass without further defensive reinforcement.
They like Crystal Palace skipper Marc Guehi, and I think he’s a good player. He’s certainly done very well for Palace in recent years and earned his place in the England squad.
Given Guehi has only a year left on his deal, he’s in the same situation for Palace as Konate at Liverpool.
But if he’s not going to sign a new contract, I’m pretty sure Palace can’t afford to let him go on a free like Liverpool might be willing to do with Konate. Their finances are not comparable, with Palace further being hit by not winning their appeal to play in the Europa League this season.
Palace, then, are going to have to sell Guehi before the transfer deadline as it seems he has no intention of signing a new deal. For the right price, he’d be a good buy.