Alexander Isak: Liverpool will not improve bid after Newcastle snub £110m offer | OneFootball

Swedish striker will not be leaving St James’ Park

Liverpool will not lodge a second bid for Alexander Isak after their initial offer of £110million was rejected by Newcastle.

The Premier League champions were keen on landing the Swedish centre-forward despite splashing £69m on Hugo Ekitike, whom they beat Newcastle to the signing of last month.

The Reds have spent heavily already this summer, snapping up Florian Wirtz in a British record deal worth up to £116m, while Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez arrived from Bayer Leverkusen and Bournemouth, respectively, for a combined £75m.

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It was widely reported on Friday morning that Newcastle had rejected Liverpool’s first official offer for Isak, and the Reds have now called time on negotiations.

The Premier League champions will not make a second bid for the Swede, with Ben Jacobs reporting that they consider the pursuit ‘futile’.

The nature of Newcastle’s rejection has led them to abandon their attempts to sign the player. The Magpies were known to be ‘desperate’ to keep hold of the player, who was open to the move.

Liverpool’s offer was well short of Newcastle’s reported asking price, which the Daily Mail claim was set at £150m.

Demand: Alexander Isak is desperate to move to Anfield

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Isak is said to be pushing to move to Anfield, and this week flew out to Spain to train at former club Real Sociedad’s facilities while current club Newcastle are in Asia on a pre-season tour.

The Sweden international missed the trip with a minor thigh issue, and manager Eddie Howe has confirmed transfer speculation played a part in the decision to leave the player at home.

Howe also went on to insist he had confidence that Isak would remain a Newcastle player this summer.