Tucked up by Champions League rivals, Newcastle then turned their gaze towards Yoane Wissa only for Man U, thus alerted, to speed up their stagnant effort to complete their move f

While Isak remains the preferred choice to lead the line, Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes have never been a duo to leave Liverpool vulnerable to dead-end negotiations. Enter Hugo Ekitike, the French U21 international whose profile seems increasingly aligned with the club’s evolving recruitment strategy.

Liverpool's interest in Alexander Isak was - or rather is - entirely genuine. Newcastle United, at least publicly, have maintained that the 25-year-old Sweden international simply is not for sale. But when the Reds stepped up their efforts to land the striker earlier this week, it suggested they had had some private encouragement to the contrary.

Back to Alexander Isak though and he is a bit of a unique stand out case, amongst the Newcastle United players. Yes, there are still three years left on his current contract, but it is universally agreed that this is the right moment where a new deal has to happen.

Isak has attracted interest from Liverpool but Elanga did not want to be drawn into where his friend's future may lie.

The Reds open their Premier League campaign at home to Bournemouth on Friday, August 15 and will hope to have most of their transfer business wrapped up by that point. Liverpool lifted the title in Arne Slot’s first season at the club but they have not defended a top-flight title since the mid-1980s.

According to The Telegraph, Newcastle values Isak at £150 million ($201.2M), a far cry from the £120 million ($161M) Liverpool appears willing to pay for him. Should Newcastle receive its full valuation for Isak, it would be a record transfer fee for a player at a British club.