Liverpool has agreed a British transfer record fee of £125m to sign striker Alexander Isak from Newcastle United.
Sources close to the deal said that an agreement for the Swedish international to move to Anfield is now in place.
Newcastle sources claim the deal could be worth as much as £130m with add-ons. Isak is expected to undergo a medical today before signing a six-year contract.
Liverpool had an original £110m offer rejected in August, but are 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 follows Newcastle having signed striker Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart last week.
Liverpool have already broken their club transfer record this summer by signing German 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.
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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 the club 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 due to a “minor thigh injury”, which the club described, while it was understood that 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”.
It is believed Isak 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.
Liverpool’s move for Isak would be one of football’s biggest deals if completed. In terms of the British transfer record, it would overtake the £107m Chelsea paid Benfica for Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez in 2023.
Wirtz, Moises Caicedo, Declan Rice and Jack Grealish all moved for initial fees of £100m.
With add-ons, the Wirtz deal could become the biggest of those, while Caicedo’s move from Brighton to Chelsea in 2023 may end up costing £115m, and Rice’s switch from West Ham to Arsenal in the same year could reach £105m.
On a global scale, Isak’s potential move to the Reds is set to come in third when based on initial fees.
The two most expensive transfers in football are Paris Saint-Germain’s signings of Neymar and Kylian Mbappé.
The French club spent £200m in bringing in Neymar from Barcelona in 2017. Mbappe joined them in the same year, initially on loan, in what became a £165.7m permanent deal.
