Alexander Isak is close to joining Liverpool after Newcastle accepted a British-record £125m fee for the striker.
The Sweden international will undergo a medical on Monday before signing what is expected to be a six-year, £300,000-a-week contract. The deal would end the summer’s longest and most acrimonious transfer saga, during which Isak downed tools on Tyneside to force a move to the Premier League champions.
Liverpool had a £110m bid for the 25-year-old forward rejected on 1 August. Newcastle’s position at that time was that Isak was not for sale, but his subsequent strike and public statements allied to their £70m signing of Nick Woltemade and attempts to sign either Yoane Wissa or Jørgen Strand Larsen encouraged Liverpool to submit a higher offer on Sunday night.
Newcastle accepted a fixed fee of £125m with no add-ons. A loyalty payment saving on their side means the deal is in effect worth £130m to Newcastle.
The sum falls short of Newcastle’s £150m valuation of the player but still represents a British transfer record and the second time this summer that Liverpool have broken their own record. The champions paid £100m plus £16m in add-ons for Florian Wirtz in June and the Isak deal will take their total summer spending over £440m. Liverpool have recouped more than £210m in player sales.
Isak in effect downed tools when Liverpool’s first bid was rejected. He was left out of Newcastle’s pre-season tour of Asia with what was said to be a thigh injury, and since then has been absent from the squad and at one stage was training alone at his former club Real Sociedad. He accused Newcastle of breaking a commitment that he could leave if a suitable offer came from a big club and last week refused overtures from the club hierarchy to reopen negotiations over a new contract.
Liverpool could raise more funds on deadline day by selling Harvey Elliott and Joe Gomez. Aston Villa have emerged as a potential destination for Elliott, whose first-team chances are likely to be squeezed further by Isak’s arrival, but they might need to sell Emi Buendía first.
Milan made a €15m offer for Gomez on Sunday night but, with complications arising in Liverpool’s pursuit of Marc Guéhi, the champions would be reluctant to sell the versatile defender at this stage.
