Report: How Alexander Isak reacted when he heard Liverpool had signed Hugo Ekitike before him
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The 2025 summer transfer window will forever be remembered at Liverpool as the tale of Alexander Isak.
Having targeted Isak as the man to revitalise their forward line, the Reds went all-in to sign him for a record £125m from Newcastle United.
But the British record fee agreed for the Sweden international tells only part of the story of a summer-long saga.
When the full account of Isak‘s transfer to Liverpool is told, it will include new Reds teammate Hugo Ekitike as a key figure in the tale.
The Frenchman was at the centre of a battle between Liverpool and Newcastle, with the Magpies initially targeting him as a replacement for Isak.
Ultimately, the Reds swooped in and took both players to Anfield, where they will hope to form a long and successful partnership.
From outside Liverpool, there have been plenty of suggestions that Ekitike will come to regret his move after being shunted down to second choice.
But it is clear that both players expected to play with each other all along.
Photo by Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Whether or not Liverpool truly believed they would end up signing Isak this summer will perhaps never really be known.
However, according to The Athletic, they possibly did not.
They claim that there was still ‘nervousness’ that a deal would be completed as late as Monday.
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Seen through that lens, the decision to sign Ekitike could be viewed as a fallback strategy, but it is once again reiterated that Liverpool had been in talks with the 23-year-old since January.
The Reds had also initiated contact with Newcastle over Isak in the middle of July, before Ekitike had been signed.
The Magpies themselves were trying to buy the former Eintracht Frankfurt striker and reportedly saw Liverpool’s move to get him as a ‘power play.’
But while those inside Anfield are said to deny such claims – and insist Newcastle were simply ‘late to the party’ – the signing does appear to have focused Isak’s mind.
It has been claimed that the Swede’s ‘mood changed’ once Ekitike was confirmed as a new Liverpool player.
Isak then accelerated his push to leave Newcastle, refusing to travel on the Magpies’ pre-season tour.
While Liverpool were clearly planning to sign two strikers this summer following the tragedy of Diogo Jota, there was a good chance they would end up with neither Ekitike nor Isak.
However, once the former was signed, Liverpool pushed hard to get the latter onboard as well, and clearly have a plan for them to play together.
In our opinion, the most likely scenario is that Ekitike becomes Slot’s starting left winger, and we see a slight shift in the way the front three operate.
Alternatively, in games where Liverpool are expected to dominate, we could see Ekitike and Isak start centrally together, with Cody Gakpo coming off the left.
The two strikers are similar in profile which could cause a problem for Slot, but could also lead to the interchangeability he is looking for in his attackers.