Liverpool set ambitious MASTERPLAN in action to sign Alexander Isak | OneFootball

Liverpool have already unleashed one masterplan on Newcastle in relation to Alexander Isak but now the player wants the move to Merseyside, another one might be about to be set in action.

Securing the Swedish striker has been top of the Reds' shopping list since the start of the summer.

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Believe it or not, the Reds can still afford to sign Isak for a British transfer record fee and deliver more signings, but a number of moves still need to be made before everything can fall into place.

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One of which is Newcastle finally getting a signing over the line to join Anthony Elanga and Aaron Ramsdale. Liverpool signing their target Hugo Ekitike has set an embarrassing trend in motion.

But the other required move is the Reds creating room for Isak by selling Darwin Nunez. It is here where the recruitment team's masterplan is based. We can beat Newcastle's owners twice.

© IMAGO - Arne Slot Liverpool 2024-25

Slot's masterplan will deliver Isak

In signing Ekitike, many people thought a move for the prolific Premier League striker was off. After all, spending nearly £200m on two strikers in the same window has never really been done before.

But it is what this Liverpool squad needs. Diogo Jota's passing but the club in an incredibly difficult position and it would be poor squad planning to not bring someone in to cover the Reds' No. 20.

As such, it's entirely reasonable for Isak to be targeted now. He was the main target at the start of the window and he's now unhappy at Newcastle. If the money is there to buy him, why not go for it?

But you might still ask, 'how will it work tactically?', well Ekitike is more than comfortable down the left side of the pitch and he and Isak can swap in and out, alongside potentially playing together.

So it's clear that Ekitike would not have been a wasted transfer if Isak joins. He adds dynamism to the team and the tactical options available to Arne Slot increase ten-fold with both of them available.

In one sense, taking the Frenchman could have scuppered Newcastle's attempts to sell Isak, but the Swede had not divulged his intent to leave Tyneside at that time. Plus, we might not have been interested in letting him go - after all, his £79m move was intended, Ekitike isn't a pawn in a game.

But now we have a situation where Isak's announced his desire to leave, with Liverpool sitting at the top of his wishlist, the Magpies have quickly pivoted to a new target, RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko.

As such, it's clear that Liverpool are now in the driving seat. Once Sesko or a different striker is brought in at Newcastle, it feels inevitable that Isak will get his wish and join the Reds this summer.

However, that still isn't the full extent of the masterplan. A far more ambitious plot is going on.

Al Hilal's interest in Nunez is essential. It was mentioned earlier that there are two things that need to happen in order for Isak to move and only one of them is Newcastle finding a replacement for him; the other is Liverpool selling the Uruguayan for a financial deal that meets the club's expectations.

The fee is rumoured to be €75m (£65m), which would allow the Reds to break even on his transfer.

Following three years of disappointing efforts in front of goal, getting our money back would be an extraordinary deal to secure, yet the Saudi club's can afford to make such a deal happen and we're just waiting on confirmation that Nunez is okay with a move to the Middle East for it to go forward.

But just consider who is making all this happen. Al-Hilal are backed predominantly by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is the same entity that has full control at Newcastle United.

Of course, it has been discussed already that Liverpool can afford to spend even more than they have already this summer and still be in the clear when it comes to the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), but a deal for Nunez would certainly help the club's overall net spent.

And with that in mind, the £130m or whatever figure to be spent on Isak would likely go down a lot better knowing that the player with the most big chances missed if going to be replaced by the best striker in the league last season - two moves solely orchestrated by the same ownership, the PIF.

It's ambitious to say the least, but given how much fuss Isak has created to almost force his way out of Tyneside, the masterplan of sorting both deals simultaneously is less far-fetched than you think.