Isak completes deadline-day blockbuster move

AP:

LIVERPOOL SAVED the biggest transfer until last in its remarkable US$570-million summer spree, finally signing Alexander Isak from Newcastle for a British-record fee as the window closed yesterday with spending by Premier League clubs soaring beyond US$4 billion.

The biggest saga of Europe’s summer transfer window ended with Isak completing his dream move to the English champions for 125 million pounds (US$170 million), with the deal announced in the final throes of a chaotic deadline day.

“I feel amazing. It’s been a long journey to get here,” said Isak, who effectively went on strike at Saudi-controlled Newcastle over the summer as he agitated for a move to Anfield.

On the back of winning the Premier League for a record-tying 20th time, Liverpool have aggressively overhauled their squad and blown their rivals out of the water, spending more than any other team in Europe. Germany playmaker Florian Wirtz and young French striker Hugo Ekitike have also joined in deals worth more than US$100 million.

One transfer Liverpool failed to get over the line, however, was for England defender Marc Guehi, who will stay at Crystal Palace for the final year of his contract because the London team couldn’t secure a replacement.

English football has unrivalled spending power owing to its huge domestic and international broadcasting deals, and its top-flight clubs have demonstrated their financial might this summer. They’ve smashed the previous single-window record spend of 2.36 billion pounds (now US$3.2 billion) in 2023 by splashing out around 3 billion pounds (US$4.15 billion) over the past few months.

The 20 Premier League teams spent more than those in the top leagues in Spain (US$800 million), Italy (US$1.4 billion), France (US$750 million) and Germany (US$1 billion) combined, according to expenditure figures on the Transfermarkt website.

Arsenal were second to Liverpool with their summer outlay of more than US$300 million on players such as Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi. The club’s eighth and likely final signing of the window was a loan deal for Ecuador defender Piero Hincapie from beleaguered Bayer Leverkusen yesterday.

Flush with cash from the Isak transfer, Newcastle signed Yoane Wissa from Brentford for a reported 55 million pounds (US$75 million) as a second striker addition along with Nick Woltemade, who joined for a club-record fee on Saturday.

Other highlights on Monday included Tottenham signing France striker Randal Kolo Muani on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, while Aston Villa were very active in signing midfielder Harvey Elliot on loan from Liverpool, winger Jadon Sancho on loan from Manchester United and former United centre back Victor Lindelof on a free transfer.

United continued trimming their squad by offloading Antony to Real Betis on a permanent deal and Rasmus Hojlund to Napoli on loan, while signing Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp in a bid to fix their issues in that department.

Yet to be resolved was Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s reported move to Manchester City from Paris Saint-Germain as a replacement for Ederson, who has been the No. 1 for Pep Guardiola’s team since 2017.

Most Premier League clubs were in the market for players on deadline day in what has been one of the most chaotic transfer windows in history.