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Following Serie A's top scorer, will the English Premier League striker advance to Saudi Arabia.
It has been reported that Al Hilal has offered a buyout to recruit Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak. French magazine Recipe reported on the 22nd (Korea time) that Al Hilal submitted a buyout offer to Gonzalo Gaitan, Isaac's agent. Gaitan told Saudi daily Aliyadhya that "all options are under consideration, and we will reach a conclusion soon. I can't say whether I will transfer or stay."
Liverpool also wants to recruit Isaac. The Sun, a British daily newspaper, recently reported 'Liverpool wants to talk about Newcastle and Isaac. However, Newcastle have declared Isaac off-sale (NFS)'
Isaac scored 27 goals and 6 assists in 42 official games last season. Having scored more than 20 goals for two consecutive seasons, he has established himself as a striker representing the Premier League along with Elling Holan. There has been a number of news surrounding him since last winter, but he is likely to stay as Newcastle have made it clear that they will not put him on the market.
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However, the atmosphere seems to have changed recently. After news broke that Isaac was in contact with Al Hilal, the question mark grew even more as he missed his first pre-season game against Celtic. News that Newcastle wants a transfer fee of 130 million pounds (about 242.7 billion won) seems to be taking shape.
Initially Newcastle are understood to have wanted more money. It is widely believed that when proposals from big clubs such as Liverpool were in full swing, they even added a price tag of up to £150 million. However, most of the analysts said that this was an expression of NFS's will rather than an actual transfer. However, Liverpool seems to have entered the 'discount' as interest has waned, with Liverpool turning to recruiting Hugo Ekitike instead of Isaac.
Even if Newcastle accepts Al Hilal's offer, the key is whether Isaac will accept going to Saudi Arabia. However, there is a possibility that Al Hilal's astronomical personal conditions may shake his mind, although his reluctance has decreased compared to the past as players who have played in Europe advance into Saudi Arabia one after another.
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| 신화Yonhap News |
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Saudi Arabia's most popular team, Al Hilal, is a group of stars who have played on the European stage, including Kalidou Koulibaly, Hoobeng Neves, João Cancelo, and Aleksandar Mitrovic. Ahead of this season, coach Simone Inzaghi, who led Serie A Inter Milan, was also brought in. At the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which recently ended, he was the only Asian team to reach the round of 16 and surprised the world's soccer community by reaching the quarterfinals by producing an extraordinary victory over Manchester City.
The oil money-based recruitment match, which has been led by Al Hilal, is now being implemented by most teams in the Saudi league. Earlier, teams classified as big clubs in the Saudi league, such as RT Hard, Al Nasr, Al Ahli, and Al Shabab, played a big role, but now teams in the middle and lower ranks are also generously releasing their wallets. Investment seems to be taken for granted for survival, with Al Khadshiya, a promoted team from the second division of last season, succeeding in recruiting Matteo Lettegi, who won the Serie A top scorer in the 2024-2025 season.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
