Newcastle reject Liverpool’s first formal bid for Alexander Isak

Newcastle have rejected Liverpool’s first formal offer for striker Alexander Isak, who is pushing for what would be a British record move to Anfield.

Isak has emerged as a priority target for Liverpool as they look to further strengthen their attacking ranks following the sale of Luis Diaz.

The Swedish striker has already informed Newcastle of his desire to leave and, having not travelled for their pre-season tour of Asia, was revealed this week to be training at former club Real Sociedad.

Newcastle are adamant their No. 14 is not for sale and have now rejected a formal bid from Liverpool, per The Athletic‘s David Ornstein.

The Premier League champions were previously reported to have made clear they would be willing to pay a British record £120 million, but the Mail‘s Craig Hope claims their initial offer was worth around £110 million.

Despite their public stance that they would not sell Isak, Newcastle have set a valuation of £150 million for their centre-forward.

It is widely expected that the two clubs will eventually reach an agreement and that could be in the region of £130 million.

Liverpool were reported to be only willing to approach Newcastle if they were given encouragement from the club’s end that a deal could be completed.

Isak himself will have made clear there will be no issue in agreeing personal terms, with a number of sources claiming he had turned down advances from Saudi Arabia in order to prioritise a switch to Merseyside.

The situation should progress in the coming days with it unlikely Liverpool would have made a formal offer if they were not confident a deal could eventually be struck.

They have already broken the British transfer record once this summer with the £116 million deal to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.

Liverpool’s overall spending so far amounts to £295 million, though the fees spent on Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Freddie Woodman and Armin Pecsi are offset by significant departures.

Diaz has joined Bayern Munich in a deal worth £65.6 million, with a combined £130 million brought in from his sale along with transfers for Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jarell Quansah, Caoimhin Kelleher and Nat Phillips.