(Image: PA)
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher don't always agree... but the two Sky Sports pundits firmly believe Liverpool - even with Alexander Isak through the door - will struggle to run away with the Premier League this season.
The Reds won the top flight at a canter last term, finishing the season 10 points clear of Arsenal in second. Since then, Arne Slot and his recruitment team have spent roughly £300m on new talent, with Isak still firmly on the club's radar.
Yet both Neville and Carragher insist even signing the super Swede does not guarantee the Reds the title.
“Liverpool won it really comfortably last year and have had a great transfer window,” Neville said at the launch of Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage.
“If they get Isak, which it looks like he’s agitating for a move, then it will make them massive favourites. But Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, I think will push them closer than last year.”
Carragher, quizzed over whether Isak will end up at Anfield, added: “Yeah, I think so, but I don’t get this narrative of Liverpool are going to run away with it.”
He continued: “If you look at history, it could tell you that it’s not just about having the best players, it’s about having the best team, and sort of making that balance right, and at the weekend \[vs Crystal Palace\] it didn’t quite look right."
But it is Neville's last point that strikes a chord from a Newcastle perspective. Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea are indeed all in positions to push Liverpool closer this term after strengthening this summer.
City got their business done nice and early and are now finding new homes for the likes of Savinho and Jack Grealish, the Gunners have added one of the hottest strikers in Europe to their dressing room and Enzo Maresca's Chelsea have already pipped United to a few targets this summer.
Meanwhile, the Magpies, who have their own grand aspirations of becoming title contenders, may be forced into bolstering the ranks of the reigning champions - and a key rival at that - while weakening their squad late in the summer.
Eddie Howe, the board, the players and the fans can all harbour desires of lifting the Premier League one day but after bruising window after bruising window of late, European qualification remains the most likely target as the new season draws closer.
But one day Newcastle certainly hope to be in that position. Yet, this summer, despite signing Anthony Elanga, Aaron Ramsdale, Malick Thiaw, and targeting exciting forward and midfield additions in the final stretch of the summer window, Newcastle may be about to end the window by doing what Howe has tried to prevent in recent seasons.
"We want to keep our best players. I think I’ve made that very clear," the Newcastle boss said at the start of the summer.
"That’s not just the wish from me, that’s the wish from everyone at the club. I don’t have a crystal ball.
"I can’t sit here and say what’s going to happen. I can only say what my determination is and it is to build a team, the best team possible and to do that you can’t consistently lose your best players."
Isak remains a Newcastle player and could yet stay on Tyneside. The next few weeks will certainly impact whether United can keep chase with their closest rivals in this coming season.