Liverpool have agreed to a British transfer record fee of £125million to sign striker Alexander Isak from Newcastle United.
Confirming the imminent deal on his X handle, football transfer expert Fabrizio Romano wrote; “Alexander Isak to Liverpool, here we go! Deal agreed now for £130m transfer fee. Record move for Premier League.
“Isak, on his way today for medical tests as new Liverpool player after long term deal agreed months ago.”
Liverpool had an original £110m offer rejected in August but were now set to land their first-choice target of the summer.
The protracted saga involving the 25-year-old appears set to come to an end on the final day of the summer transfer window, and it followed Newcastle having signed striker Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart last week.
Liverpool have already broken their club transfer record this summer by signing Germany attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz in a deal worth an initial £100m, with a further £16m in add-ons.
Isak’s arrival would top that outlay. After also bringing in Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Armin Pecsi and Giovanni Leoni, the deal would take the club’s spending to about £416m without add-on fees.
Liverpool could still add to the spree, with the Reds working on a deal to sign England defender Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace.
Meanwhile, the departures of Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Jarell Quansah, Caoimhin Kelleher, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Tyler Morton and Ben Doak have recouped an initial amount of about £190m.
Isak, who joined Newcastle in a £60m move from La Liga side Real Sociedad in 2022, scored 27 goals in 42 appearances across all competitions last season.
He helped the Magpies win the Carabao Cup in March – with the forward scoring as Newcastle beat Liverpool in the final – and they went on to qualify for the Champions League by finishing fifth in the Premier League.
Earlier this summer, Isak was left out of the Newcastle squad for their pre-season tour of Asia with what the club described as a “minor thigh injury”, while it was understood he wanted to explore a move away.
He then trained alone at his former club Real Sociedad before Liverpool’s initial bid for him was knocked back by the Magpies.
Amid continued speculation about his future, Isak released a statement in which he said promises had been “broken” by Newcastle and that their “relationship can’t continue”.
Isak believed he would be allowed to leave Newcastle if a big club came in for him and offered the right price.
Newcastle said that “no commitment has ever been made by a club official that Alex can leave Newcastle United this summer”.
However, a move has now been agreed after Isak remained on the sidelines at Newcastle and missed their opening three Premier League games, which included a 3-2 defeat by Liverpool at St James’ Park.
In terms of the British transfer record, the signing would overtake the £107m Chelsea paid Benfica for Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez in 2023.