Liverpool may have a cheeky tactic up their sleeve that could be used to land a blockbuster transfer for Alexander Isak. After the £116million signing of Florian Wirtz, the addition of a world-class striker would surely elevate Arne Slot’s side well above their rivals for the next few years.
A move for Isak is likely to cost Liverpool another nine-figure fee. Newcastle are determined to keep their star player after securing Champions League qualification in the final few weeks of last season. However, Liverpool could attempt to get into Newcastle’s good books by stepping away from their pursuit of Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi. Both clubs have been linked with the England international, who has a year remaining on his contract.
Palace are understood to value Guehi at around £70million, but TeamTalk report that £45m could be enough as an opening offer to bring the Eagles hierarchy to the negotiating table. The Guardian report that the 24-year-old is willing to see out the remainder of his contract if the right deal does not present itself.
It is claimed that Guehi will not rush into a decision on his future and may choose to run down his contract at Palace, before exploring his options as a free agent in 12 months’ time. If that is the case, Liverpool may have the perfect tactic to help them secure an even better deal.
In a cunning plan, the Premier League champions could end their interest in Guehi in an attempt to present Newcastle with a free run at the 23-cap international. That, in turn, could please Newcastle and sweeten their stance on Isak’s future.
It is unclear whether Liverpool would decide to do that, but it could be their best chance of landing their top striker target. Despite winning the Premier League, Slot’s centre-forward options struggled for regular goals and an upgrade could help fire them to successive top-flight titles.
Slot is eager to remain ahead of Arsenal and Manchester City, who have also strengthened the squads that desperately required reinforcements. Liverpool have added Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong, and could yet sign Milos Kerkez.
With Ibrahima Konate remaining as Virgil van Dijk’s first-choice centre-back partner, the centre-forward role is the position that most needs improvement. A clever plan involving Guehi could entice Newcastle to offload Isak to Merseyside.