It has been an incredibly busy summer transfer window for defending English Champions Liverpool so far.
They have already confirmed the signings of Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen, as well as fellow Bundesliga star Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Meanwhile, they have also signed Milos Kerkez from AFC Bournemouth, and Giorgi Mamardashvili has now joined the club from Valencia, after the clubs agreed a deal last summer.
To – at least in part – fund this, they have sold Caoimhin Kelleher to Brentford, Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen, and Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich. They also got nearly £10m for Trent Alexander-Arnold so he could play in the Club World Cup.
Well, they could be about to fork out on another player. Florian Plettenberg has reported that Newcastle United striker has reached a verbal agreement in principle with Liverpool over a six year contract.
Although the two clubs will have to come to an agreement themselves, it is encouraging for Arne Slot’s side that they were able to attract Isak to the club, even with the signing of Ekitike.
It will be fascinating to see how things work if Isak gets over the line. Will he play on the left wing? Owing to his pace and footwork, some have suggested the Swedish striker could play on the left wing. He has done so a handful of times at Newcastle.
Ironically enough, Ekitike has also played a handful of games off the left in his career. Perhaps that could be the play. Perhaps they will interchange during the game.
With Mohamed Salah still around, it is hard to see Liverpool playing a two striker formation. Unless they go with an old fashioned 442. Ekitike and Isak up front, Salah off the right, Wirtz drifting inside off the left?
That would give some huge responsibility to the likes of Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch, though they are going to get through a lot of work in any set up. A set up of Isak or Ekitike off the left and Wirtz as the number ten is not that much different to a 442 of sorts either.
The idea of Wirtz drifting inside to create space for Kerkez on the overlap to whip crosses into Isak and Ekitike is pretty mouth watering, it has to be said.
Having four forwards, two ultra attacking full backs, and no out and out defensive midfielder is incredibly attacking. Will it have the right balance? It would be fascinating to see.
