{"id":255368,"date":"2025-07-11T05:27:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T05:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/255368\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T05:27:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T05:27:09","slug":"liverpool-handed-alexander-isak-update-as-newcastle-make-unexpected-u-turn-football-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/255368\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool handed Alexander Isak update as Newcastle make unexpected U-turn | Football | Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"Liverpool FC\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/liverpool-fc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool<\/a> may have been handed a boost in their ambitious pursuit of <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"Newcastle United FC\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/newcastle-united-fc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Newcastle<\/a> star <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"Alexander Isak\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/alexander-isak\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alexander Isak<\/a>. The Reds are keen to sign the Swedish international this summer, though any move is likely to set them back a Premier League record fee.<\/p>\n<p><a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"Arne Slot\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/arne-slot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arne Slot<\/a>\u2019s side have already splashed the cash over the past few months, signing Jeremie Frimpong and <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"Florian Wirtz\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/florian-wirtz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Florian Wirtz<\/a> from Bayer Leverkusen as well as Bournemouth star Milos Kerkez. Now, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/liverpool-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool<\/a> are scouring the market for a new No. 9 to replace <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"Darwin Nunez\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/darwin-nunez\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Darwin Nunez<\/a>, who is being eyed by Napoli.<\/p>\n<p>Although Eintracht Frankfurt\u2019s Hugo Ekitike and now-<a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"Chelsea FC\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/chelsea-fc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chelsea<\/a> star Joao Pedro were shortlisted as options, Isak remains a top target at Anfield \u2013 and the news of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/newcastle-united-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Newcastle<\/a> dipping into the market for a striker could act as encouragement in their pursuit.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FabrizioRomano\/status\/1942986564990063032\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Fabrizio Romano<\/a>, the Magpies have joined the race to sign Ekitike and they are \u2018keen\u2019 on the 23-year-old. Other Premier League clubs are also said to be in the race for the promising forward, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/chelsea-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chelsea<\/a> and <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"Liverpool FC\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/liverpool-fc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool<\/a> previously showing interest.<\/p>\n<p>Ekitike also has suitors in the Saudi Pro League, such as Al Hilal and Al Qadsiah, but his priority is to remain in Europe if he leaves Frankfurt this summer. The news of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/newcastle-united-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Newcastle<\/a>\u2019s interest, given the centre-forward would cost around \u00a385m, will set off alarm bells on Merseyside given that such a marquee signing could indicate that Isak could become available over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<p>The Magpies are pushing to retain the services of the ex-Real Sociedad star and want to tie him down to a new deal, but if their negotiations are unsuccessful then it remains to be seen whether they soften their \u2018not for sale\u2019 stance.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/newcastle-united-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Newcastle<\/a> have pushed to sign Ekitike previously, coming close to securing his signature in 2022 whilst he was at Reims. However, the forward opted to remain at the Ligue 1 outfit instead before joining <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"PSG FC\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/psg-fc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paris Saint-Germain<\/a> just six months later. They later refused to go back in for the Frenchman but have U-turned on that stance a few years later, with his stock having only risen.<\/p>\n<p><a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"Eddie Howe\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/eddie-howe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Eddie Howe<\/a> will certainly feel that there is a world in which Isak and Ekitike can lead the line together, especially as both players are able to operate out wide if required, but it would be no surprise if the higher powers at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/latest\/liverpool-fc\" data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|AutoLink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool<\/a> jumped to the conclusion that their No. 14 could be made available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool may have been handed a boost in their ambitious pursuit of Newcastle star Alexander Isak. The Reds&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[9261,748,393,4884,5759,179,763,1126,1127,11492,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-255368","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-alexander-isak","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-hugo-ekitike","13":"tag-liverpool","14":"tag-liverpool-fc","15":"tag-liverpool-news","16":"tag-liverpool-transfer-news","17":"tag-newcastle-united-fc","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114832948848108606","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}