{"id":320646,"date":"2025-08-05T19:59:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T19:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/320646\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T19:59:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T19:59:15","slug":"i-think-alexander-isak-is-worth-150m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/320646\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I Think Alexander Isak is Worth \u00a3150m"},"content":{"rendered":"

In years to come, the 2025 summer window will be remembered for the Alexander Isak<\/a> transfer saga. The Swedish striker has made it abundantly clear he wants to leave Newcastle United<\/a>, but the club aren’t that keen on selling to Premier League rivals Liverpool<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Magpies will make any deal complicated, and have already refused a mammoth \u00a3120m+ bid<\/a>, but we all know how this will work out. The player will eventually get his move. It might not happen this summer, he might not even join Liverpool, but the wheels are in motion for Isak’s inevitable departure and have been for some time. <\/p>\n

After all, a player of that quality \u2013 among the finest strikers on the planet<\/a> \u2013 deserves to play for one of the best clubs in the world. Thanks to the wealth of their Saudi owners, Newcastle<\/a> can realistically aspire to be in that bracket, but their 25-year-old star striker isn’t going to waste the best years of his career waiting for it to happen. <\/p>\n

Liverpool are obviously an attractive option and are understandably keen on the player, who has 62 goals in 109 games for Eddie Howe’s side. However, considering the make-up of the squad, to spend another massive sum on another attack-minded player would be a foolish piece of squad-planning with potentially disastrous consequences. <\/p>\n

\"Alexander<\/p>\n

Arne Slot Must Reinforce Rest Of Squad Before Spending More on Attackers<\/p>\n

Defensive-minded reinforcements are needed <\/p>\n

The Reds already have a fantastic team at their disposal. Jurgen Klopp turned them into one of the best-coached sides in Europe, and Arne Slot<\/a> arrived with the brains to fine-tweak a few things here and there, and sprinkle his own tactical brilliance to deliver a much-deserved league title in his debut campaign. <\/p>\n

It should be said, though, that there was an element of luck about that Premier League<\/a> victory. That’s nothing to do with the performances of players, the level of coaching or any conspiratorial VAR chat. But rather, they were fortunate to avoid serious long-term injuries to the pillars of their team.<\/p>\n

Last summer, all the talk was about how the Reds needed a new number six. Martin Zubimendi turned them down<\/a> (later joining Arsenal), and so Slot had to improvise. He made the inspired decision to play Ryan Gravenberch in that position, and it worked a treat. <\/p>\n

That said, it was a big risk from the club. Not only did they not fully know if he would be able to shine in the role \u2013 having had an indifferent first season in England \u2013 but they were also banking on his fitness.<\/p>\n

As it happened, Gravenberch missed just one league game all season. Had a major injury hit, though, the club’s only natural replacement was Wataru Endo. A competent player, but not the sort who can be relied upon for a long period if major honours are being targeted. People will say that Alexis Mac Allister can play the role, but that means taking one of the club’s best midfielders out of his strongest position, so two positions would have to be tweaked, not just one. It might work for a short while, but it would not be sustainable.<\/p>\n\n

Liverpool Summer Transfers<\/p>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Player<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Cost<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Florian Wirtz<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

\u20ac125m<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Hugo Ekitike<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

\u20ac95m<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Milos Kerkez<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

\u20ac46.9m<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Jeremie Frimpong<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

\u20ac40m<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Armin Pecsi<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

\u20ac1.78m<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Freddie Woodman<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

Free<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Then let’s look at the backline. Captain Virgil van Dijk<\/a> is perhaps the most important pillar of the team but at 34 years of age, he’s not getting any younger. Like Gravenberch, he also missed just one Premier League game last term (sitting on the bench during a loss to Brighton after the title was already one).<\/p>\n

Then you have his partner, Ibrahima Konate. A wonderfully talented centre-back, but not the most robust character. He played 31 times in the league last term, the best tally he’s ever managed. Despite only being 26, the Frenchman has already spent 560 days on the sidelines due to injuries across his career. <\/p>\n

Having let Jarell Quansah join Bayer Leverkusen, who do the Reds have in reserve should Van Dijk or Konate pick up a serious knock? Joe Gomez<\/a>, a player who is so injury-prone that \u2013 at the time of writing \u2013 couldn’t even make it through pre-season without breaking down, due to an Achilles injury.<\/p>\n

It Would Be Negligent to Spend Rest of Budget on Isak <\/p>\n

Liverpool could be one injury away from total disaster<\/p>\n

Isak is a brilliant footballer and is good enough to deliver trophies for whichever club he joins, making him worth the \u00a3150m Newcastle are demanding<\/a>. However, if Liverpool are to spend all that cash, how much left will they have to spend on the rest of the squad? Marc Guehi has been linked, but could cost over \u00a350m with the Magpies also interested in the Englishman<\/a>. <\/p>\n

They’ve already spent close to \u00a3200m on Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike combined. Surely, before spending even more on an already talented front line (after all, let’s not forget about Mohamed Salah<\/a>), there is a greater need to reinforce in defensive areas. <\/p>\n

Liverpool must learn from title challengers Arsenal<\/a>. The Gunners failed to sign a much-needed striker last summer or in the January window. Injuries to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus meant they ended the season trying to chase down the Reds with Mikel Merino up top. People mocked the Gunners, but they had two viable options up top before having to use Merino. Liverpool could easily find themselves in a similar position with their defensive shortcomings. <\/p>\n

If Gravenberch goes down, Endo is hardly a comparable player to replace him. If Van Dijk or Konate suffer a major injury, can Gomez realistically be called upon for six months? Even Manchester City<\/a> had their entire campaign derailed by just one injury to Rodri.<\/p>\n

In modern football, with so many games to play, squad depth is vital to any success. Regardless of Isak’s talent, if Liverpool go into the 2025\/26 campaign without a natural backup to Gravenberch, or an alternative to Gomez, they run the risk of blowing their entire season with just one injury.<\/p>\n

Stats via Transfermarkt<\/a> and SofaScore<\/a> – as of 05\/08\/25<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In years to come, the 2025 summer window will be remembered for the Alexander Isak transfer saga. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,4884,179,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-320646","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-liverpool","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114977935436462198","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320646","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=320646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}