Striker's move to English champions brings an end to an extraordinary saga and leaves Newcastle scrambling for replacements on deadline day
Newcastle United have agreed the British record £130m sale of Alexander Isak to Liverpool, who will hand him their No 9 shirt and a six-year contract.
In a huge overnight development a fee was agreed to end a months-long saga in the early hours of Monday morning.
Isak will head to Merseyside later today to complete a medical and the formalities of the transfer that he has pushed for since first indicating an unwillingness to play again for the club back in July.
The i Paper understands Isak will not receive a loyalty bonus as part of the deal negotiated by Newcastle, despite not formally requesting a transfer.
PIF go back on their word
Newcastle United's Saudi Arabian chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan takes his seat for the English Premier League football match between Newcastle United and Liverpool at St James' Park in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, north east England on August 25, 2025. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan may face criticism for ending this saga (Photo: AFP)
Losing Isak is a bitter blow for Newcastle, who have seen their entire summer disrupted by the saga, and there will be criticism of majority owners, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, for agreeing to the sale of their star striker without meeting the conditions they listed on a statement released in reaction to his own bombshell social media post a fortnight ago.
The £150m widely believed to be their valuation was never realistic given Isak’s behaviour since the end of July but the club’s owners have taken the view that – with re-integration a risky strategy that threatened to engulf the whole of the season after draining energy for the first month of the campaign – doubling his value and negotiating a British record reflects the best way out of a difficult situation.
Time will tell whether that is a correct way to proceed for the club and much will depend on who they are able to bring in on what promises to be a frantic final 12 hours on deadline day.
Will Newcastle sign a replacement?
FILE - Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson reacts to getting a red card as he walks off the pitch during the Club World Cup Group D soccer match between Flamengo and Chelsea in Philadelphia, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola, file)
Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson is one of the replacements Newcastle are considering (Photo: AP)
Newcastle remain firmly in the market to sign a second striker, with Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson one of the options being considered by the club.
He was recalled from a possible loan move to Bayern Munich with interest mounting from Premier League clubs and ticks a few boxes for Newcastle – not least the fact he has top flight experience – although the recruitment team have been split on whether he is the right option.
A loan move with an option to buy – and a penalty clause of around £30m if they don’t proceed – is one possible Plan B.
Newcastle remain interested in Brentford’s Yoane Wissa and Jorgen Strand-Larsen of Wolves but neither club was keen to sell and, flush with a huge up-front fee from Isak, the Magpies can expect to be quoted exorbitant valuations by selling clubs on Monday.
The i Paper has been told that Newcastle’s transfer team spent much of Sunday working on strikers across Europe after it became clear during the day that there would be movement with Isak.
What does the future hold for Newcastle and PIF?
The decision will lead to questions around the future and direction under PIF. Sources at the fund are adamant that they remain hugely ambitious for the club and there will be a raft of decisions in the autumn but there will be a need to speak further about the club’s future strategy and vision.
With no chief executive and the director of football position vacant this summer they have had an inexperienced team leading them through one of the most important periods in the club’s history.
That is far from ideal but it is understood PIF took the lead on the Isak decision, believing it to be best for business in the long run.
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As detailed by The i Paper on Saturday it transforms the club’s outlook for years to come from a PSR perspective but that extra headroom to bring in players will be balanced with accusations that they remain a club that has to sell its best players.
Those bigger questions are for another day, perhaps. In the short term Isak is heading to Liverpool – who are closing in on a deal that reinforces the Premier League champions as the dominant force in English football.
With a move for Marc Guehi also in the offing their director of football, Richard Hughes, has pulled off a spectacular transfer window and offered Newcastle a glimpse of the sort of strategic thinking required to get to the next level.