Liverpool's summer long pursuit of Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak has recently hit an impasse, but it might be reignited by two unlikely sources.
Two of the Reds' biggest rivals, Chelsea and Manchester United could be about to play a significant role in an Isak to Liverpool transfer eventually coming to fruition. I'll explain I promise, but just understand this is another wild aspect of the transfer window chaos we all love and hate.
Let's take a look at how two huge rivals could be about to help the Premier League champions get better.
What's the Situation?
The main players in this wacky scenario are Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and RB Leipzig.
The German club are no stranger to big clubs poaching them almost every summer for their marquee young talent. Heck, the Reds have done it with Ibrahima Konate and Dominik Szoboszlai.
This summer, there are two players in particular that have been the main focus for this, Xavi Simons and Benjamin Sesko. We'll start with the latter who was anticipated to be a possible Isak replacement at Newcastle, but not anymore.
A big money move to Manchester has been nearly completed as the Slovenian will spurn the Magpies in favor of the Red Devils in a deal that could reach €85 million.
He scored 21 goals in all comps last season and was huge piece of the Leipzig attack.
We now move to Simons, who is the creative spark for Leipzig, but is now on the verge himself of making the switch to Stamford Bridge this summer in deal for just under €70 million.
How this Affects Liverpool
Reports earlier this week came out that Leipzig had opened talks over a possible move for Harvey Elliott but things were not at an advanced stage at the time.
Liverpool have a few options they could make something happen on this front. They would be looking for at least £40m with a buyback clause inserted. However, if that is a no, they would want £50m or more to sell Elliott with no chance to return him to England in the future.
With the Sesko deal about to have fresh ink on the paperwork, and Simons seemingly moving to Chelsea sooner than later, that would be a windfall of just under €160 million for Leipzig.
Armed with a war-chest like that purely from sales, the Red Bull powered club would have both a vital need for Elliott and more than enough funds to satisfy any asking price from Richard Hughes.
For the sake of argument, let's say Sesko moves to United, Xavi Simons to Chelsea and Elliott moves to Germany for £45 million.
Fresh Funds for Fun
Combining that profit with the sale of Darwin Nunez to Al Hilal, Liverpool would have nearly an extra £100 million to add to their original £110m offer for Isak a few weeks ago. This would put them in a significantly stronger financial place than they already are, which is strong as it is.
The only drawback here is that Newcastle still cannot land an Isak replacement and their options are dwindling by the day.
Still, if Liverpool, armed with fresh funds from the Elliott and Nunez sales, returns with an offer of say £130 million or more for the Swede, it would be almost impossible to say no.
In this world, Chelsea and Manchester United's transfer spending might speed up the process of Isak and Liverpool getting their dream pairing together sooner than later. Only in the transfer window, eh?