Liverpool have had an ‘informal’ £60m bid rejected for Real Sociedad striker Alexander Isak.
This comes from Mundo Deportivo who claim that Liverpool have used intermediaries to sound out a price for Isak.
They report that the answer back is clear: pay the 22-year-old’s £75m release clause or there will be no deal.
According to the report, Real Sociedad are concerned that the enquiry for Isak was the pre-cursor to a more serious assault from Liverpool.
Similarities to Firmino
There’s no doubt that Isak is an excellent player and his skillset does look well suited for Liverpool.
Despite his 6 ft 4in frame, he couldn’t really be described as anything like a traditional number 9. Instead, like Roberto Firmino at Liverpool, he likes to drop deep and link the play to runners ahead of him.
In that respect he would look to be a good long-term replacement for Firmino, who is eight years his senior.
Isak also possesses a good deal more pace than our Bobby, which could be beneficial to Liverpool’s counter-attacking threat.
A hefty price to pay
However, the prices being quote are astronomical. If the bid that Liverpool are reported to have made was indeed accepted, it would make Isak the second most expensive signing in the history of the club as per transfermarkt.co.uk.
Should Liverpool decide they want to meet the Swede’s release clause, it would equal the money spent on their record signing – Virgil Van Dijk.
Not that the forward isn’t a good player, but for The Reds to part with Van Dijk money, you’ve got to be scoring more than four league goals per season, as Isak currently has.
For comparison, Firmino, not a natural born goalscorer by any stretch of the imagination, has managed five in the Premier League this season. Bobby has scored at a rate of a goal every 158 minutes. Isak has managed one every 381 minutes.
Isak may be a good player for Liverpool at the right price. But unless La Real lower their expectations of the fee they can receive for him, there’s little chance of him moving to Anfield this summer.
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