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Not a day goes by without some sort of twist in the Alexander Isak transfer saga. Whatever happens over the last few weeks of the transfer window, there is every reason for Liverpool to feel confident it will get its man.
As much as Newcastle wants to keep hold of its prize asset, its position seems to be getting weaker and weaker with every new report coming out of the north-east as the relationship between club and player looks to have gone beyond breaking point.
Isak is now reportedly refusing to ever play for the Magpies again, leaving his club in an almost impossible situation.
The obvious solution would be to give in and let him make his move to Liverpool, but it’s not that easy. A torrid summer has seen Newcastle miss out on all of the strikers it has targeted thus far, and now Eddie Howe is facing up to starting the Premier League season without a senior No.9 to lead the line.
In those circumstances, you can certainly understand why they want to keep Isak, but the damage is already done, and now there is surely only one way this saga ends - with Isak joining Liverpool.
That may well sound overly confident, but this isn’t the first time the Reds have been in this position - albeit, perhaps not in such dramatic circumstances.
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Nevertheless, Virgil van Dijk’s move to Anfield might provide some clues as to what we can expect to happen now. Like Isak, the defender was heavily linked with Liverpool before a transfer seemed inevitable in the summer of 2017.
Van Dijk’s head had obviously been turned, and he promptly handed in a transfer request at Southampton. His actions saw him isolated by then-Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino, who forced him to train alone - much like Isak this summer.
As it happens, the move would end up falling through, and Liverpool would go on to apologize for making an alleged illegal approach - although by that point, the writing was on the wall.
It was just a matter of when, not if, Van Dijk would end up joining the Reds, and just after Christmas that same year, his world record move was finally confirmed.
If that is anything to go by, then it seems inevitable that Liverpool will eventually land Isak - whether it’s before the September 1 deadline, or a little further down the road. Like Van Dijk, it’s hard to see any other outcome for him now.
What is worth bearing in mind about Van Dijk’s own saga is that he was soon reintegrated into the Southampton squad once the summer window closed, so even if Isak were to stay put this summer and pull on his black and white shirt again, there is every chance it would just be a temporary reprieve for Newcastle.
If Van Dijk’s decision approach was drastic back in 2017, then Isak’s frankly looks nuclear in comparison. There is surely no other outcome than a move to Liverpool for him, even if the Reds have to wait.
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