Alexander Isak and Liverpool saga enters crucial 24 hours as Newcastle step up transfer plan

There are two weeks left in the summer window but the next 24 hours could be key to settling one of the last remaining Premier League transfer sagas. Liverpool have been pushing to bring Alexander Isak to Anfield from Newcastle, already seeing one bid knocked back, but now it's about Newcastle's own transfer plans as the Magpies chase a replacement.

If Liverpool are to land Isak, they may well need to spend more than the £116million Premier League record which convinced Bayer Leverkusen to part ways with Florian Wirtz. Newcastle left Isak out of their squad to face Aston Villa on Saturday amid indications he has refused to play for the club, but a goalless draw reinforced their need for a goalscorer - whether that means keeping the Swede or spending big to make up for losing last season's top scorer.

Brentford frontman Yoane Wissa is one of those being eyed by Eddie Howe's side, and he too sat out the weekend's action. Earlier in the window, it looked as though a £35m bid might be enough to land the Congolese international, but The Mail reports that the asking price has climbed to at least £50m.

Newcastle could end the window with two new strikers, having already allowed Callum Wilson to leave for nothing. Goncalo Ramos, who scored for Paris Saint-Germain in the Super Cup, is another option.

The Wissa deal is believed to be the one on which Isak's future hinges, though. The same publication indicates that a failure to land the 28-year-old would make it more likely that Isak stays at St James' Park, with the next 24 hours seen as crucial.

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“It’s a difficult one to answer," Newcastle boss Eddie Howe told TNT Sports when asked about the Isak situation. "I hope it’s resolved quickly, because it’s news around us all the time.

"Players have managed to shut that out and perform. We have to continue to do that. We have to cope without the narrative against us.”

Newcastle's next game just so happens to come at home to Liverpool. “It’s always spicy against Liverpool, there’s a history to the fixture. We look forward to it. We know how good they are," Howe added.

Arne Slot's title holders showed few signs of needing more in attack when they beat Bournemouth on Friday, with four different players finding the net. There's still a gap in the squad, though, with Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez both completing summer exits to help the Reds raise funds for a potential Isak swoop.

Federico Chiesa was one of the four scorers on Friday, grabbing his first Premier League goal, and Slot suggested the Italian is going nowhere despite talk of a summer exit. "As long as he is here he is definitely at Liverpool and I have no reason to believe something is going to change," the manager said.

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