Newcastle United's Alexander Isak breaks past Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk
(Image: MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
As the summer transfer window fast approaches, Newcastle United continue to hear speculation regarding their prized asset - Alexander Isak.
After months of talk of a potential Arsenal switch, it is now Liverpool who appear to have moved into pole position for the Swede, who is under contract at St James' Park until 2028. Multiple reports have suggest Isak is the man the Reds want to lead their line into a new era under Arne Slot.
It must be said that Newcastle, naturally, don't want to lose Isak and will restart contract talks with the hitman in the near future. This, after the striker himself played down any talk of desiring a move away from Tyneside in the near future.
"I've commented on my situation and my security in Newcastle several times," Isak told Swedish outlet Fotbollskanalen while in Marbella last week. "It's been written how much I love the city and the club, how good I feel there. I'm not thinking about the future."
But even taking Isak's pledge, Newcastle's hardline stance and the eye-watering transfer fee it would take to land the 25-year-old out of the equation, there's also reasons to suggest Liverpool still wouldn't be in a position to strike a deal of that magnitude this summer anyway.
"Liverpool are looking like they will be leaving themselves with lots to do in the transfer market this summer," club legend John Aldridge told the Liverpool Echo this week. "The way things are at the moment, there’s going to be a lot of movement."
Slot's side are about to win the Premier League at a canter in the Dutchman's debut season in England but come next year the 2024/25 champions could look extremely different. In all areas of the pitch.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has dominated the headlines this week as speculation grows over a summer switch to Real Madrid. The right-back, one of three Liverpool heavyweights out of contract in the summer, looks poised to depart his boyhood club on a free to join pal Jude Bellingham in the Spanish capital.
Liverpool have Conor Bradley emerging in Alexander-Arnold's shadow but should the versatile full-back depart it's hard to see the Reds not splashing out on a replacement. The same can be said for Virgil van Dijk; another defender approaching the end of this Anfield contract.
The centre-back recently admitted he has "no idea" whether he will still be a Liverpool player next season, adding to the worry currently gripping the red half of Merseyside. Van Dijk is a player who would absolutely need to be replaced should he choose to leave, with any potential incomings of a similar ilk likely costing a significant chunk of Liverpool's summer budget.
Then we move to the opposite end of the pitch to find Mohamed Salah, the Premier League's runaway top scorer this term, also yet to extend his deal at the club. Talks, supposedly, reaching a stalemate due to wages and the length of any new contract.
Liverpool have been crying out for a central striker in recent windows with Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota both failing to make that position their own. However, Salah's goals have masked the club's lack of a line-leading goalscorer of Isak's quality.
Losing Salah, like Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold, means finding a replacement for his wide-right position as an extra necessity is added to Slot's shopping list. How do you replace a right-winger with 27 goals and counting this season without breaking the bank?
It is going to be a transitional summer at Liverpool. Even if they succeed in holding on to even two of the aforementioned trio, there are questions looming over the long-term future of Andy Robertson, Jarell Quansah, Joe Gomez, Caomhin Kelleher, Harvey Elliot - and Nunez.
By the time the 2025/26 campaign rolls around, Liverpool may have had to strengthen in five or six different positions. Spending north of £120m on Isak would make that task significantly more difficult.