Tom Weber
Tom Weber
Updated: 30 Aug 2025 17:57 BST
4 min read
Alexander Isak, Liverpool
© IMAGO
Newcastle spending up to €90 million on Nick Woltemade shows that Liverpool are getting a good deal for Alexander Isak, even if they have to spend €150m to sign him.
It has been a memorable transfer window, and the biggest deal of the summer has not even been completed yet. Liverpool are still trying to bring in Isak from Newcastle, and their chances of succeeding have been bolstered by the Magpies' signing of Woltemade.
Recent reports have suggested that Liverpool are readying a new bid worth around €150m for the Sweden international. This offer would be some way short of the €170m+ previously touted as Newcastle's asking price, but the Reds are operating from a position of strength.
Isak is desperate to join, and Newcastle need the money after spending as much as €90m on Woltemade. Indeed, it is this deal for the German striker that makes €150m for the 25-year-old look like a bargain.
Fees for strikers have become incredibly inflated this summer due to a dearth of elite options, and Woltemade is the starkest example of this. The 23-year-old is an incredibly promising talent, but he is not a €90m player.
Alexander Isak - a €150m bargain?
Woltemade currently has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €33.4m, which is an enormous €56.6m difference compared to the fee Newcastle have paid for him.
By contrast, Isak is currently rated at €117.1m, so even a gigantic fee like €150m would only be an overpay of €32.9m. For that price, Liverpool are getting a Premier League-ready striker who is arguably the best in the world on a good day.
Nick Woltemade
© IMAGO - Nick Woltemade
If Isak can match his Newcastle performances at Anfield, nobody will question the massive outlay on him. The same can be said for Woltemade, of course, but the difference is that the Magpies are still very much paying for potential rather than substantive quality.
Woltemade arrives at St. James' Park with 14 top-flight goals to his name. The towering 6ft 6in forward is not yet an elite finisher and, despite his stature, physicality is not his main asset.
Eddie Howe will rightly back himself to turn the German into a world-class forward, just as he did with Isak. But in a world where a raw 23-year-old is worth €90m, Isak is undoubtedly a bargain, even at €150m.
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