Liverpool have reportedly created a plan to try and sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle in the summer transfer window.
While Arne Slot and his Liverpool squad challenge at the top of the Premier League and prepare for the knockout stages of the Champions League and League Cup final, the club's recruitment department have started sounding out targets for once the season is over.
And, after a storming campaign in which he has already scored 17 goals and made five assists in 23 Premier League games, Alexander Isak has now emerged as Liverpool's priority target. Getting him out of St. James' Park won't be easy, but the Reds have hatched a masterplan they hope will work.
Liverpool attempting to land Alexander Isak
Isak is rightly highly-rated at Newcastle, with a figure of at least £100m needed to even get the Magpies to consider a sale. With more than three years still remaining on his current deal they're in no rush to sell, though Liverpool are hoping to change their minds with a surprising offer of their own.
That's despite the Daily Mail reporting that Newcastle won't let any of their best players leave in the summer even if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.
According to Football Insider, Liverpool are willing to "sweeten" the deal for Newcastle by adding in Darwin Nunez as part of a player-plus-cash offer. Despite signing the Uruguayan striker for £85m in 2022, Liverpool value Nunez at £60m following a difficult season in which he has managed just six goals in 34 appearances, though admittedly only 16 of those games have been as a starter.
Nunez has fallen down the pecking order at Anfield, with Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz all preferred ahead of him. The 25-year-old doesn't seem very well-suited to Arne Slot's more measured approach to games, with his time at the club looking like it's coming to an end.
With three years still remaining on his current deal, getting a buying club to even pay Transfermarkt's £54m valuation of Nunez might prove difficult, however, with a player-plus-cash deal a clever way to work around that issue.
If Newcastle are to let Isak leave, then Eddie Howe would likely want to bring in a centre-forward of his own choosing. While Nunez would certainly work well in the Magpies' high-pressing style of play, his lack of proficiency in front of goal might prove an issue.
In FourFourTwo's view, it seems virtually impossible that a deal of this nature would happen. Newcastle would much prefer an outright transfer fee for Isak in order to placate any PSR concerns, which Nunez - a player they're likely not too keen on in the first place - would take up a large portion of by being used as a makeweight in the deal.
Liverpool are back in Premier League action on Wednesday night when they travel to Aston Villa, while Newcastle host Nottingham Forest on Sunday at St. James' Park.
