Isak and Howe concern clear after Liverpool unleash £217m transfer intent
This is a summer transfer window that has the potential to create spending history. Newcastle United must be on red alert to ensure they aren’t victims of it.
The Magpies will look to go big themselves. Talk of £150m budget continues to be relayed by sources close to the club and triple bids for Anthony Elanga, Joao Pedro and James Trafford take up a sizeable portion of that.
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That’s before a centre-half is even considered, a signing which – if added to the completion of the other three – would mean the biggest window in Newcastle’s history, beating the estimated £145million spent on Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes, Tino Livramento and Yankuba Minteh (plis Lewis Hall’s loan fee) in the summer of 2023.
Eddie Howe wants four players that will improve Newcastle’s starting XI – not just squad fillers. United haven’t signed a first-team starter in three windows now.
The truth is, however, that spending £150m could just see them stand still in what is shaping up to be the biggest, most competitive window in Premier League history.
All top flight teams are chasing Liverpool. The Reds romped to the title and have since sought to solidify that position with an unprecedented spend of their own.
The capture of Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth breaks some ground of his own at Anfield. The 21-year-old becomes the most expensive left-back of all time on Merseyside at £40m, taking the eye-watering spend of June 2025 to £185m.
That figure includes the £29m spent on Jeremie Frimpong and the £116m spent on Florian Wirtz, a British record. Both players moved from Bayer Leverkusen.
Throw in the £29m set aside last year for Giorgi Mamardashvili’s imminent arrival from Valencia and the £3m paid to Puskas Akademia for young goalkeeper Armin Pecsi and it takes the Premier League champions’ outlay to a never-before-seen figure of £217m.
The scary thing is that they still have more irons in the fire.
This is where Newcastle’s concern grows. Alexander Isak continues to be linked with a mega-money move to Liverpool. The club stance remains firm and true – the player is not for sale – but that hasn’t stopped supporters worrying that they could lose their star man to a club competing for titles and able to pay £300,000 a week in wages.
Isak isn’t badly paid at Newcastle by any measure but his estimated £120,000 a week salary is three times less than what Mohamed Salah receives.
Newcastle remain cool about the situation and talks over a new deal will continue once the window has closed. Isak has three years left on his deal, is happy on Tyneside and there is no panic at St James’ Park or sense that the Swede will agitate for a move anytime soon. The bid for his good friend and fellow Swede Anthony Elanga is instructive too, however. Not only is the Nottingham Forest man an exciting player, but his relationship with Isak is taken into consideration too.
Liverpool remain interested, however. Outgoings will need to be factored in before the Reds can even consider plotting an audacious move for Isak but it will certainly be a storyline worth keeping tabs on in the coming weeks, with still so much of the transfer window left to run.
Darwin Nunez is set to leave Anfield, possibly to Merseyside, which would bring in significant funds and if Luis Diaz moves on then a new forward will be sought, with Arne Slot armed with a huge budget.
It’s not just at the top end of the pitch where Liverpool will strengthen, however. Jarell Quansah’s £35m move to Bayer Leverkusen will result in Slot looking to strengthen his defence. They have a legitimate interest in Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi, who has also been chased by Newcastle. Liverpool are in the box seat there – the player and his representatives are understood to favour a move to the champions – but they are prepared to bide their time and try to bring Guehi’s asking price down with just 12 months left on his contract.
That has meant Newcastle having to switch focus to other options as the stalemate continues. They can’t be as patient as Liverpool and need to get players signed.
Meanwhile, over in the States, Manchester City are showing the benefit of getting your business done early. Three big signings and a back-up keeper done before they jetted off to the Club World Cup at a combined price of around £110m in transfer fees.
Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait Nouri and Tijjan Reijnders have all starred in games so far for City as Pep Guardiola beds his new boys in ahead of the new season. By the time the first game of the Premier League season comes around they’ll have had more than two months and around 10 games to hone their tactics.
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Similarly with Chelsea. Liam Delap has hit the ground running and already grabbed a goal for the Blues after snubbing Newcastle.
Chelsea and City, along with Liverpool, were the only teams aside from Arsenal who finished above Newcastle when the season came to a close. Their swiftness in June, big business done and smartly has seen them already steal a march on the Magpies.
Eddie Howe’s call for speed from the St James’ Park decision makers – Darren Eales, Paul Mitchell, Steve Nickson et al – was clear. If they don’t get a couple of players in before the manager and his players return for pre-season training on July 7 then it may already be too late.
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