Liverpool have agreed a British record £125 million (€144.25 million) deal to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle. The Premier League champions had a £110 million offer rejected in August and since then the 25-year-old Swedish international has not trained with or played for Newcastle, but in the final hours of the transfer window a deal has been reached to end the impasse.
The striker is set to undergo a medical on Monday, with Newcastle relenting by accepting the player does not want to play for them any longer.
Isak’s signing took Liverpool’s summer outlay to around £416 million (€480 million).
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has not wasted any time replacing Isak, and added Brentford’s Yoane Wissa in a £55 million (€63.5 million) deal on Monday after the club record signing of Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart on Saturday for €80 million (£69.35 million).
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Isak was left out of Newcastle’s pre-season tour of Asia with what was said to be a thigh injury, but has been absent from the squad ever since and at one stage was training alone at his former club Real Sociedad.
He has accused the club of breaking a commitment that he could leave if a suitable offer came from a big club – though that now looks to have changed, with a £5 million loyalty payment taking the deal up to as high as £130 million.
He will become Liverpool’s eighth first-team signing of the summer, marking the second time they have broken their own transfer record following the €127 million (£110 million) capture of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.
In all their summer outlay now stands at around £416 million (€480 million).
Wissa’s move to Newcastle comes 24 hours after the 28-year-old issued a statement on social media accusing Brentford of “unduly standing in his way” of a move to St James’ Park. Brentford rejected previous offers from Newcastle worth about £40 million.
Wissa has scored 49 goals in 149 appearances, including 19 in the Premier League last season, since joining Brentford in a £8.5 million deal from Lorient in 2021.
Liverpool could raise more funds on deadline day by selling Harvey Elliott and Joe Gomez. Aston Villa have emerged as a potential destination for Elliott, whose first-team chances are likely to be squeezed further by Isak’s arrival, but they might need to sell Emi Buendía first.
Milan made a €15 million offer for Gomez on Sunday night but, with complications arising in Liverpool’s pursuit of Marc Guéhi, the Premier League champions would be reluctant to sell the versatile defender at this stage.
Elsewhere, Aston Villa are in discussions with Manchester United over a deal for Jadon Sancho. The winger is out of favour at Old Trafford but has admirers at Villa Park. The structure of the proposal is unclear, with Villa thought to be pursuing a loan move. Sancho spent last season on loan at Chelsea and has not played for United in more than 12 months.
Interestingly, the 25-year-old rejected a move to join Evan Ferguson at Roma, which triggered the Serie A club signing Leon Bailey on loan from Villa earlier this window. Goalkeeper Emi Martínez was omitted from Villa’s squad on Sunday amid interest from United, but the Red Devils have decided instead to go for Royal Antwerp’s Senne Lammens for a €21m plus add-ons deal.
Lammens was due to travel to Manchester on Monday afternoon prior to signing a five-year contract. United consider the 23-year-old, who has nine caps for Belgium’s Under-21 side, a prospect for the future who can also challenge André Onana orAltay Bayindir for the No 1 spot immediately.
Manchester City have agreed the €14 million transfer of Ederson to Fenerbahce but the deal is dependent on signing Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris Saint-Germain for around €35 million, or another elite goalkeeper as his replacement.
A deal is understood to be in place regarding Ederson’s move to the Turkish club but City are intent on securing Donnarumma’s arrival first. If the Italian cannot be secured the Brazilian will not be sold unless another top-class keeper can be signed. As the window closes at 7pm this may be unlikely.
Ederson, who is 32 and has a year left on his contract, has become unsettled at City while Donnarumma has been deemed surplus to requirements by Luis Enrique at PSG, the Spaniard signing Lille’s Lucas Chevalier last month to be his new No 1.
Tottenham have moved quickly to get a straight loan over the line for the Paris Saint-Germain forward, Randal Kolo Muani, who is on his way to have a medical at the club. Spurs, who would have no obligation to sign him next summer, were interested in January and they have capitalised on Juventus’s inability to agree a permanent deal for him. The 26-year-old went to Juventus on loan in January and they have spent what feels like the whole summer trying to sign him only to admit defeat over the weekend. They have moved instead for Lois Openda from RB Leipzig.
Thomas Frank has Richarlison and Dominic Solanke as his centre-forward options, although the latter is struggling to shake the ankle injury that ruined his pre-season.
Sunderland have agreed a fee of around £20 million with Ajax for Brian Brobbey. The 23-year-old Netherlands striker is on a flight to Newcastle from Amsterdam and will have a medical later this morning.
On Sunday evening, Sunderland agreed to a request from Chelsea to recall their loanee striker Marc Guiu to Stamford Bridge in the wake of Liam Delap’s injury. Brobbey will become Sunderland’s 13th signing of a very busy summer.
Ireland international forward Michael Obafemi has joined German second-tier side VfL Bochum on a season-long loan from Burnley.
The 25-year-old Dubliner spent last season with Championship side Plymouth Argyle, scoring two goals in 32 appearances, 15 of which were starts.
Burnley are set to complete the signing of midfielder Florentino Luís from Benfica on an initial loan deal. The Clarets will pay €2 million (£1.7 million) upfront with a €24 million (£20.8 million) obligation to buy next summer.
