Alexander Isak has been offered a staggering £600,000-a-week tax-free deal by Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia with further lucrative bonuses on top. The Newcastle striker is open to leaving St James’ Park and Liverpool, who are long-term admirers, are keeping an eye on the situation.
Isak has not travelled to Asia with his Newcastle teammates for the club’s pre-season tour, officially because of a minor muscle injury, and is assessing his options. They include Al-Hilal, who reached the Club World Cup quarter-finals, losing to Fluminense, and want to make a grand statement by signing Isak – one of the most coveted players on the market.
Al-Hilal, who are managed by Simone Inzaghi, are prepared to sweeten the package for the striker with bonuses if he were to win the league and/or the Asian Champions League and top the scoring charts.
Isak has been unsettled by the transfer talk and he did not play for Newcastle in the friendly at Celtic last Saturday. The club have no desire to sell him and the fans would surely take the dimmest of views of their Saudi owners if they were to let him go to Al-Hilal. Like Newcastle, Al‑Hilal are owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Liverpool would not be able to match the personal terms that Al‑Hilal have proposed and it is unclear whether they would be able to afford the fee; Isak is valued at about £120m.
Liverpool have signed another striker – Hugo Ekitiké, for £79m from Eintracht Frankfurt – and spent heavily in other areas, most notably the £116m package for the midfielder Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen. Their other big deals have been for Milos Kerkez (£40m from Bournemouth), Jeremie Frimpong (£29.5m, Leverkusen) and Giorgi Mamardashvili (£25m, Valencia).
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When sales are factored in, chiefly those of Jarell Quansah (£30m to Leverkusen), Caoimhín Kelleher (£12.5m to Brentford) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£10m to Real Madrid), Liverpool’s net transfer spend stands at £235.5m. It is possible they could raise further funds by selling Darwin Núñez, Harvey Elliott and even Luis Díaz, although they have maintained the Colombian is not for sale. Isak is contracted to Newcastle until 2028.
