Excited Robbie Fowler delivers ’90 per cent’ claim on Alexander Isak as Liverpool ready opening bid

Legendary figure Robbie Fowler has dropped his verdict on what the “phenomenal” Alexander Isak would bring to Liverpool, while two sources, including Fabrizio Romano, have revealed the Newcastle striker has rejected a £96m offer from elsewhere.

The Swede is pushing to leave St James’ Park this summer in the wake of strong interest from the Premier League champions. And even though Liverpool have already spent around £265m (€303m, $356m) on transfers this summer, Arne Slot does have a masterplan for how to prise the talisman star away from Tyneside this summer.

With our reporter Fraser Fletcher first breaking the news that Isak wants out at St James’ Park and has been left frustrated by their failure to significantly add to their squad this summer, reports on Sunday evening have now revealed Liverpool are readying a first offer for Isak in a bid to gauge Newcastle’s determination to keep their star man.

Understandably, Newcastle are indeed ready to resist any approach for their striker, despite Eddie Howe’s admission that the player is unsettled and with his future placed even more under the spotlight by his refusal to travel to Asia and join his teammates on their pre-season tour.

It’s also understood that, with Liverpool’s opening bid set to be worth a British record £120m, Newcastle are determined to stick rigidly to their ‘not for sale’ stance, with their £150m (€171.5m, $201m) valuation also seen as a strong attempt to drive the Merseysiders away.

Indeed, while Howe insists he still hopes he can persuade the striker – contracted to Newcastle for a further three years – to stay, an excited Fowler has shared what he believes the Swede can bring to Anfield should the move come off.

“As a Liverpool fan, we would all love to see him, wouldn’t we?” Fowler told The RedMen TV. “When you look at the Premier League and the goals he scored last year, the types of goals and his performances, he was phenomenal.

“Hopefully, he can carry that on, and hopefully it will be at Liverpool. If you were to pick one player from the Premier League last year who you would have wanted to sign for Liverpool, he would probably be on 90 per cent of people’s lips.

“We probably needed that pivotal striker on the pitch last season. He could be the difference if he were to come.”

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Liverpool hopes of deal swell as Isak rejects £96m offer

In the meantime, Liverpool’s hopes of pulling off a record-shattering deal have been enhanced amid fresh reports that Isak has now officially rejected an offer from Al-Hilal to bring the player to Saudi Arabia.

The free-spending Saudi side were ready to offer Isak a contract worth a staggering £600,000 a week, which would have netted the player a whopping £32m a year tax-free, or £96m over a three-year contract, with lucrative bonuses on top should he finish as top scorer in their SPL campaign.

Per The Sun, that would have netted the player an additional £1.75m for each year he achieved that target.

However, the paper now claims he has rejected that offer, and has made it clear to his agent and Simone Inzaghi’s side that he has no intention of joining their project.

Claims that Isak has also said no to Al-Hilal have backed up by transfer guru Romano too, who posted on Threads: “Alexander Isak says no to Saudi and new contract, priority Liverpool!

“Isak has already turned down proposals from Saudi Arabia as there’s nothing at all ongoing with Al-Hilal at this stage.

“Eddie Howe has also confirmed there are no contract talks ongoing, the player’s wish is to leave Newcastle.

“Nothing at all with Chelsea, Man United, Arsenal.

“The real club in concrete talks for Isak was, is and still remains Liverpool… depends on Newcastle now.”

Speaking about the striker’s situation from Singapore, Howe admitted he is desperately hoping the club can convince him to stay.

“There are things going on behind the scenes. He will be aware he’s in the news every day and I’m sure that’s not easy for anyone,” the manager told the media.

“Conversations that happen between Alex and the club or Alex and myself will stay private. We do share a really good relationship with him. He’s been magnificent for us since he joined. He’s very popular in the dressing room and we’d love him to continue his journey at Newcastle.”

Howe later admitted there is ‘no change’ on Isak’s situation before adding about the wider window: “We’re not deluded. We know we need to bring players in. We’ve known that.

“We know what we wanted. It’s been a challenging window.”

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