Liverpool chairman Tom Werner has admitted the club were not initially planning to sign both Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitiké this summer.
After failing with an initial approach to Newcastle United over Isak worth a reported £120 million ($162.9 million), Liverpool quickly pivoted to beat the Magpies to Ekitiké by striking a deal worth as much as £79 million, after which Isak opted to go on strike to try and force through a move to Anfield.
Liverpool made it clear they would only return to the table for Isak if Newcastle made it clear they were prepared to negotiate, and it was only on the final day of the summer transfer window that the Swede’s £125 million switch to Anfield was confirmed.
Speaking on the It’s Called Soccer podcast, Werner confessed the club were more than happy to move forwards with Ekitiké as their striker signing when the Isak deal was hanging in the balance.
“In the Newcastle situation, obviously their club needed to find a replacement,” Werner explained. “We thought we had a terrific financial offer for them, but he did have a contract with them that lasted for three more years.
“I guess our feeling was we had signed Ekitiké to be a striker and we felt if it works, then that would be great, and if it doesn’t work, there’ll be another option at some point down the road.”
Deadline Day also saw Liverpool pursue a move for Crystal Palace defender Marc Guéhi, who was given permission to undergo a medical after a £35 million agreement was reached, only for Palace to pull the plug on the deal late on.
“I didn’t know any more than the news media,” Werner continued. “I thought we were going to get the defender from Crystal Palace! But I understood. Their club started [the season] very well, and their chairman, my counterpart, said, ‘You know what, we can’t afford—whatever that means—to lose him’.”
With Ekitiké, Isak and Florian Wirtz as their headline signings, Liverpool oversaw the most expensive transfer window in history—an outlay Werner believes was necessary to retain the Premier League title.
“The fact of the matter is it’s going to be very difficult,” he said. “As much as all the pundits are saying we are going to win the league this year, you can see from our first four matches how competitive the league is. We have been resilient, we have been fortunate.
“The one thing I have learned, and we are relatively humble and modest about this, is we were very enthusiastic about changing the squad because it’s very difficult to repeat.
“There was a great intention to bring in new players, obviously to get better. As much as it has been talked about how much our spend was this year, we have been able to spend to the degree that we did so because we also sold a lot of players.
“One of the most encouraging things about that is we haven’t clicked yet and I don’t expect us to click right now. I do think part of what we have learned is that you can’t just bring the same squad back. You need to bring in a new energy and new ideas.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Our Feeling Was’—Liverpool Chairman Explains Alexander Isak Signing After Hugo Ekitike Deal.
