Liverpool enter race to sign £68m “magician”

Will he, won’t he? That is the question dominating those of a Liverpool persuasion, with it likely to prove an anxious few weeks amid the wait to see if Alexander Isak will make the jump to Anfield this summer.

Rival supporters are raising their eyebrows at such interest in the Newcastle United man, not least considering the £256m that has been spent so far, albeit with prior claims indicating that Arne Slot’s side could fork out for him and still be in the clear, considering how well the club has been run.

Having waited patiently amid a muted 2024 summer window, the Reds have sprung into action this time around, lasering in on Isak to solve their centre-forward woes, with the hapless Darwin Nunez seemingly heading for the exit.

The Uruguayan scored just seven times in all competitions last season, having been given the cold shoulder by Slot, while stand-in false nine Luiz Diaz has since secured his own departure, after joining Bayern Munich on a £65.5m deal.

That latter move has also heightened the need for competition for Cody Gakpo on the left flank, with recent reports indicating that the Merseysiders may well be looking toward a Premier League solution to bolster their attacking ranks.

Liverpool enter race for another Premier League addition

Isak remains priority number one right now, with reports suggesting that Liverpool are ready to lodge a bid of around £130m, following the bombshell news last week that the Swede had informed Newcastle of his desire to leave.

Despite rival interest from Saudi Arabia, the 25-year-old appears to have his heart set on making the move to Anfield, with the Magpies said to be lining up RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko as his replacement.

Away from solely focusing in on Isak, however, Caught Offside have suggested that the Premier League champions have also entered the race for Crystal Palace playmaker, Eberechi Eze.

As per the report, while it is Arsenal who lead the race for the England international, they are facing ‘stiff competition’ from the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and now Liverpool, with Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur also in the mix.

The 27-year-old is being lined up as a potential replacement for the outgoing Diaz, according to the piece, with the player’s £68m release clause likely to be an attractive prospect for any interested suitor.

Why Eze could be another Isak level signing

The beauty of signing a player like Isak is the fact that he has already proven himself in the Premier League, having scored 54 goals in just 86 appearances in the competition, following his arrival in the summer of 2022.

In that same time frame, Nunez – for example – has played 95 times in England’s top-flight, albeit while netting just 25 times, highlighting the significant upgrade that the Newcastle man would represent.

A terror for Premier League defences, Isak has already been described by Virgil van Dijk as “definitely the most in-form striker at the moment in world football”, with that glowing praise coming prior to the striker’s clincher in the Carabao Cup final triumph in March.

Such Wembley heroics are also familiar to that man Eze, with the former Queens Park Rangers starlet having scored the only goal as Palace saw off Manchester City in the FA Cup final just a few months later.

That crucial strike marked the versatile forward’s 14th goal of the campaign in all competitions, having also chipped in with a further 11 assists amid his role in a left-sided number ten berth.

Like Isak, the fleet-footed “magician” – as hailed by The Telegraph’s Sam Dean – has seemingly reached talismanic status at his current side, with now the perfect time for him to take that next step to a club operating at the summit of the European and English game.

Like Isak too, Eze has also showcased what he can do at Premier League level on a consistent basis, having registered 57 goals and assists in 146 games in the competition to date, 16 of which came in 2024/25.

Of course, there is undoubted excitement over deals for the likes of Jeremie Frimpong, Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz, although quite how that trio will fare in English football remains to be seen.

In Eze – the man who scored at Anfield in Palace’s 1-0 win back in April 2024 – there would be no such need for concern or questioning. This is a player who can immediately make an impression on Slot’s starting lineup.

With Isak leading the line, and the Englishman operating off the left flank, the Merseysiders could have a new deadly combination to unleash next season.