Several days on and Liverpool fans can still rest easy knowing Florian Wirtz plays for their football club.
The Germany international is only 22 but has already established himself as one of the best midfielders in the world, instrumental in Bayer Leverkusen’s invincible Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal wins in 2023/24.
He links right back up with Jeremie Frimpong, whose £29.5m release clause was activated last month, leaving the BayArena to become Arne Slot’s first recruit of the summer.
Milos Kerkez is set to follow, having made clear his excitement of joining Liverpool ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, potentially replacing Andy Robertson as the 31-year-old considers a change of setting in La Liga with Atletico Madrid.
The Reds also want a centre-back to replace Jarell Quansah, who is set to join Leverkusen. However, it’s a centre-forward Liverpool needed when heading into the market, and they need one still.
Why Liverpool are pressing to sign a new striker
Farewell, Darwin Nunez. The Uruguayan striker hasn’t actually left the club yet, but it’s been widely reported that Liverpool are looking to offload him, and indeed, the 25-year-old is hoping to move too.
Napoli are focusing their efforts on bringing Nunez over to Serie A, and you can envisage him doing well on the Italian scene. He’s a maverick, lively, vibrant. However, Liverpool wanted something more prolific to marry into that athletic underlayer which has never quite clicked in the Premier League.
What Liverpool need is their next Fernando Torres. Easily achieved, of course.
Once upon a time, Rafa Benitez claimed Nunez, who joined Liverpool from Benfica for an initial £64m (the potential £85m figure has not been met) in 2022, moved with echoes of the silky Spaniard, admiring his movement, pace and instinctiveness. He even declared that El Nino “was not a great finisher” at the beginning of his Merseyside career, signing from Atletico for a £20m fee, aged 23, in 2007.
Ah, to have another incarnation of the iconic forward. Well, FSG might have their sights set on just the player.
Liverpool prepare bid for new striker
Liverpool’s interest in Alexander Isak will come as no surprise, but Spanish reports believe that curiosity could be taken a step further in the coming weeks, with a bid being prepared for the Newcastle United centre-forward.
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In fact, Sunday’s report reveals an offer worth €120m (£103m) is being packaged up in the Merseyside post office, ready to ship over to Tyneside and test Newcastle’s resolve.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein has previously allayed Magpies fears of a summer sale, with Eddie Howe’s success in winning last year’s Carabao Cup and qualifying for the Champions League strengthening his side’s position.
However, Liverpool aren’t going away…
Why Liverpool want Alexander Isak
Newcastle might be confident that they can keep Isak at St. James’ Park, and indeed, a recent report from the Telegraph claims that Liverpool would have to pay an earth-shattering £200m fee to prise him away.
Let’s hope such claims are wide of the mark, and merely propaganda to deter hungry suitors such as Liverpool. Isak, after all, has been regarded as “the best striker in the world” over the past year by analyst Raj Chohan, having scored 27 goals across 42 matches for Newcastle.
His killer instinct is a thing to behold, but Isak is so much more than a mere marksman. As per FBref, he ranked among the top 16% of strikers over Europe’s top five leagues for shot-creating actions, the top 13% for progressive passes, the top 17% for key passes, the top 7% for progressive carries and the top 8% for successful take-on per 90.
A key pass is a pass that directly leads to a shot at the opponent’s goal.
He’s regarded as something of a nightmare for defenders, and in that way, Isak is reminiscent of Torres in his Liverpool heyday, so dangerous and dynamic as he drives forwards and strikes on goal (or sparks neat interplay with a teammate).
Steven Gerrard once called Torres “the best striker in the world”, and it was for more than his ability to find the back of the net. The Spain star had an unnatural ability to score with any instrument: right foot, left; fizzing long shots or poaching from close range; finding space and leaping to guide in a cross with his head.
Isak mirrors this, with pundit Alan Shearer dubbing him “the complete striker” and a “conduit” for his teammates, as is evidenced by FBref’s data.
Looking at how Isak and Torres match up across their respective Liverpool and Newcastle careers, there’s certainly a semblance of output on the prolific front too.
Games
109
142
Goals
62
81
Goal rate
0.57
0.57
Assists
11
19
Assist rate
0.10
0.13
G/A rate
0.67
0.70
Remarkably, Isak is scoring at exactly the same rate as Liverpool’s one-time superstar, while marginally behind on the rate of assists. It is no wonder to see him described as a “frightening” forward by LaLiga host Rimedi.
When you consider how both forwards’ styles are defined by swift mobility and an emphasis on intelligent team play, enhancing the squad’s overall tactical synergy, it becomes clearer still that Liverpool would hit the jackpot with the Sweden international.
Furthermore, like Torres, Isak arrived in the Premier League from Spain, joining Newcastle from Real Sociedad for a club-record £63m (Torres became Liverpool’s record arrival when he joined all those years ago).
It’s unclear just how Newcastle would react to an offer almost halfway below last week’s revelations that PIF are seeking £200m to even consider parting ways with their talisman, but the fact that a bid is being prepared at all tells us two things.
One: Slot, Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes all in concert as to the hopes of signing a striker this summer; and two: not only is Isak right at the top of the wist list, but there appears to be a grain of confidence that this saga might just reach a positive conclusion for the Anfield side.
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