Isak snubbed in Carragher's next five Liverpool transfer deals after £26m move

Jamie Carragher has again voiced his disapproval of Liverpool potentially signing Alexander Isak by listing five more deals the Reds should focus on getting over the line

Jamie Carragher snubbed Alexander Isak when naming the five deals he wants Liverpool to finalise before the end of the summer transfer window. The Premier League champions have already splurged around £300million on Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Armin Pesci, Freddie Woodman and Jeremie Frimpong this summer.

Refusing to rest on their laurels, the Reds are also closely linked with a move for Isak. They have already had a mammoth £110m bid turned down by Newcastle at the start of this month.

With the Swedish striker seemingly set on joining the Anfield club, Liverpool would need to increase their offer to a sum which would comfortably shatter the British transfer record in order to convince Newcastle to sell. But Carragher doesn’t think a deal for Isak should be a priority for the club hierarchy at this moment in time, and that is largely down to the arrival of Ekitike last month for a fee of £69m plus £10m in potential add-ons.

The Reds legend, speaking on Stick to Football brought to you by Sky Bet, highlighted the transfer business Liverpool should instead conduct, including the signing of two new centre-backs – a position Arne Slot has been left short following Jarell Quansah’s departure and in light of Ibrahima Konate's contract expiring next summer.

Carragher said: “They’ve got to get at least one centre-back, maybe two.” Given the Reds’ £26m agreement with Parma on Wednesday night to sign 18-year-old defender Giovanni Leoni, that leaves long-time target and Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi as one of Carragher’s preferred transfer moves.

He then acknowledged the potential departure of Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott as two more pieces of business, with their two prospective attacking replacements taking that figure up to five dealings before the end of the window on September 1.

The pundit said: “Liverpool need two more attackers because they’re going to sell Harvey Elliott and they’re probably going to sell Federico Chiesa.”

When quizzed on why he had left Isak out of the list by his colleague Gary Neville, Carragher doubled down on his previous concerns about the potential move by saying the Swede’s arrival wouldn’t align with the decision to spend big money on Ekitike already this summer.

Carragher said: “It [a forward signing] could be another player. I’m not fully invested in breaking the bank for Isak. It’s not about him as a player, I do worry about how robust he is to play twice a week for Liverpool.”

He added: “When you break the British transfer record for a player, he has to play virtually every game. He only doesn’t play when he’s injured.

“Ekitike, who Liverpool think is going to be the next Isak, would then have to be an understudy but I think he’s too good and too expensive to be an understudy. You’re only going to play when he’s injured.

“It’s not like Ekitike will have a year to learn the ropes and then become first-choice – Isak will still be there as your centre forward next year. For me, it’s been done the wrong way around.

“When he [Isak] costs that much money there will also be a pressure on the manager to say, ‘He’s my guy’ and play him. I just feel a little bit for the lad [Ekitike] who was bought for £80m thinking he was going to be the next big thing.”

It is understood that Liverpool have prioritised signing an additional defender, with both Slot and Virgil van Dijk identifying the defence as the weakest aspect of the team after their defeat on penalties by Crystal Palace in the Community Shield.