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Newcastle United is reportedly expecting Liverpool to table an official transfer offer for striker Alexander Isak, following the approval of Luis Diaz's $88 million (£66 million) move to Bayern Munich.
The Colombian winger is set to leave after a three-and-a-half-year stint at Anfield, paving the way for further spending this summer. The current Premier League champion has already splashed out nearly $400M on players such as Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, and Milos Kerkez, but is also a strong admirer of Isak.
Only Mohamed Salah netted more league goals than the Swede last season. And according to the Daily Mail, the sale of Diaz is likely to trigger Liverpool's pursuit of Isak, with Eddie Howe's team anticipating an official bid.
A deal for Diaz has been agreed between Liverpool and Bayern, with the player given the go-ahead to depart the Far East tour to jet off to Europe and put pen to paper.
Diaz had been pushing for a move to Germany after failing to reach an agreement on a new contract with Liverpool.
Diaz expressed an interest in leaving Merseyside a year ago, which was denied, but two unsuccessful attempts at negotiating new terms have led Arne Slot's team to contemplate a sale.
Slot confirmed that Diaz was omitted from the squad for a friendly loss to AC Milan on Saturday due to rumors about his future. Similarly, Isak has not featured for Newcastle in Asia and has remained in England.
Initially, a thigh injury was blamed for Isak's absence, but it later emerged that he had requested to leave St James' Park.
Eddie Howe acknowledged the need for Newcastle's hierarchy to make a decisive judgement on Isak's future, considering he still has three years left on his current contract.
"The ownership, together with the board of directors... the decision will rest with the board," Howe remarked. "There's a whole football club that has to make the decision."
Meanwhile, Newcastle is said to be gearing up to table a hefty contract proposal for RB Leipzig's forward Benjamin Sesko, who has been associated with moves to Manchester United and Arsenal this summer.
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The Slovenian sensation supposedly has a gentleman's agreement with his club that would permit his departure for a sum in the vicinity of $103 million (£77 million), including add-ons.
Liverpool.com says: With Hugo Ekitike arriving last week, Arne Slot's side has lots of quality attacking depth as things stand. However, Darwin Nunez and Federico Chiesa could both depart before the summer ends.
Signing Isak would give Liverpool another option in attack. And given he is up there among the very elite strikers in the world game, it would be a great signing if it can be done, even for well in excess of $150M.
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