Either Newcastle United will be targeting a player similar to Alexander Isak if he leaves for Liverpoolor the Reds might be looking for another alternative to the Swede even after signing Hugo Ekitike, especially when they realise he is the worst finisher in Europe.
Newcastle have been linked with Benjamin Sesko but FBRef’s statistical models claim these are the closest 10 players to Isak across Europe’s big five leagues.
We take a look and wonder whether Liverpool or Newcastle might be interested, or maybe even Manchester United; they need a striker more than anybody.
10) Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid)
We start with a player obviously very attainable. A ridiculous player with ridiculous statistics. Didn’t help Real Madrid win any trophies last season though, did he?In all seriousness, Liverpool really did come relatively close to signing the Frenchman, who apparently agreed to join the Reds three years ago for £169m. But PSG wanted a world-record fee, just two years before losing him for nowt.
And now Liverpool are briefing the media that they think they have signed a player with Mbappe-like potential in Ekitike. Even better than the real thing?
9) Vinicius JNR (Real Madrid)
This is why Real Madrid are not in the market for Isak; they already have two pretty good clones. And with the Brazilian’s price being in the £300m-plus bracketthe only suitors are likely to come from the Middle East. Remember when Vinicius being a target for Manchester United was briefly A Thing? Good times.
8) Hugo Ekitike (Liverpool)
We took the pee out of Liverpool’s attempts to brush over the fact that the Frenchman has a poor goalscoring record but he was probably the very closest they could sign to Isak in terms of style, which will be handy if they don’t manage to sign the original too…
7) Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea)
Now this one really does make sense for Newcastle. He’s likely to be pushed down the Chelsea pecking order by Joao Pedro and Liam Delap and Manchester United have been strongly linked. But Newcastle can offer a) Champions League football and b) a style that suits Jackson rather more than the Pep-ball Lite at Stamford Bridge. All Chelsea need to do is stop pretending he is worth £80m and double their money at around £65m instead.
6) Mateo Retegui (Al-Qadsiah)
The Italian striker has already taken the filthy lucre (over £50m over three years, according to reports) to leave Atalanta for Saudi Arabia, so it will be a hot year at least before he is looking for a transfer back to Europe.
5) Omar Marmoush (Manchester City)
Poor Eintracht Frankfurt. They lost Marmoush to Man City in January after an excellent 15-goal half-season and then lost Ekitike to Liverpool in July after a 15-goal full season. We have a feeling that Marmoush may be brilliant for City in 25/26 after a full Pep pre-season.
But it does mean that we only have Jackson as a viable alternative to Isak so far and things are not about to get any better…
4) Jonathan Burkardt (Eintracht Frankfurt)
The 18-goal Mainz striker is the replacement for Ekitike (or is it Marmoush?) so he’s another Isak-like footballer who is not available to Newcastle United, Liverpool or Manchester United.
3) Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan)
Now this is genuinely interesting as the Frenchman was strongly linked with Newcastle United two years ago, while links with Manchester United have been persistent, and even Arsenal have had a sniff.
He scored 14 Serie A goals last season and outscored his xG by 4.1, but the number that might put off potential suitors is his age: He will be 28 next month, making him over two years older than Isak.
2) Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)
Ex-Manchester United footballers will never tire of telling you Manchester United should sign Harry Kane. It ain’t going to happen yet, but we think he will be back.
1) Georges Mikautadze (Lyon)
We predicted a Manchester United move in the wake of his brilliance at Euro 2024 and he has since been linked with the Reds, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United and Sunderland. He would be the cheapest option on this list by some margin, with Lyon looking for around £25m for the Georgian striker who scored 11 Ligue Un goals last season despite starting just 13 games as he found Alexandre Lacazette a difficult man to shift.
