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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has hinted that he would like to sign another forward before the September 1 transfer deadline.
Alexander Isak, of course, remains a target should the door be opened for a move. "If [Hugo Ekitike] gets an injury, that would be a big risk for the Bournemouth, Newcastle and Arsenal games," Slot said. "That is why I took him off [against Crystal Palace in the Community Shield], but he had a good game today, that is for sure."
Here is the Liverpool.com verdict on the latest transfer gossip to emerge around the Reds. We start with the latest on Isak, which is not necessarily good news amid Newcastle's struggles to sign a replacement.
Alexander Isak (Newcastle)
While Liverpool would still jump at the chance to bring Isak in but before that can happen, Newcastle will have to alter its stance. For now, that hasn't happened.
According to The Telegraph, for the Magpies to become open to selling Isak, Newcastle would have to sign two strikers, and Liverpool would have to be willing to pay $199 million (£150 million).
On the first point, Newcastle is said to believe that there simply are not two strikers of the required level available on the market. On the second, no one should be paying that much — but a meeting in the middle at around $175 million (£130 million) would seem fair.
Asked over the weekend whether Newcastle could feasibly prevent Isak from leaving this summer, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe didn't sound particularly convinced after watching his side lose to Atletico Madrid.
"I don’t think it’s that straightforward, otherwise we’d have done that a long time ago," Howe said. "I don’t think we’re in a position to do that currently."
Liverpool.com says: Getting Isak was never going to be an easy deal to do, and it was always going to need Newcastle to get some players in to replace him, but there is still time. The Reds have to do something, as we'll come to shortly.
Virgil van Dijk and Arne Slot agree
"[Ekitike] is also an example of a player that came only one and a half or two weeks ago, at the end of the Asia tour," Slot said at Wembley. "And with only four days before the Friday game, it would not have been smart to play him 90 minutes.
"Of course, we have Federico [Chiesa] but he has not been with us in the Asia tour as well, so there is not a lot to replace [Ekitike] with at this moment in time.
"So, if he gets an injury, that would be a big risk for the Bournemouth, Newcastle and Arsenal games. That is why I took him off, but he had a good game today, that is for sure."
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That seems like a pretty big hint that, having sold Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez, Slot would like to get another attacker through the door. The question now is whether that is Isak or someone else.
Slot's captain, Virgil van Dijk, outlined a very similar stance. "We just lost Darwin and we lost Lucho," Van Dijk said on talkSPORT. "There's always room for an attacker in order to strengthen us, so let's see what the window brings."
Liverpool.com says: Without getting another body in up top (and there is an argument to do Isak and another one, in all honesty), Liverpool will be leaving itself light.
One injury to Ekitike, Mohamed Salah or Cody Gakpo as things stand would cause a major headache, with 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha a big prospect but not someone who should be overly relied upon too soon.
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