Isak saga sets tone for 'absolutely huge' match

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"St James' Park, is it?" the Liverpool manager inquired as his team prepared to face Newcastle United.

On Monday night, Slot will certainly be aware of his surroundings. The Geordies will make that unmistakably clear.

This marks Newcastle's inaugural home match of the season, coinciding with a bank holiday. And the champions are set to invade.

However, the ongoing saga of Alexander Isak has added an intriguing element to the event, as the striker's potential suitors arrive in Tyneside.

Eddie Howe was well aware of this reality.

"We need to focus on our plan and avoid emotional distractions, but we must harness the crowd’s energy," the Newcastle head coach remarked. "That energy will be crucial for us."

'A match with a historical rival'

Howe spoke from lived experience. His squad has demonstrated their capability to perform remarkably before the passionate St James' crowd when their concentration is at its peak.

Under Howe's leadership, since taking charge of a team grappling with relegation issues in 2021, Newcastle has lost just twelve top-flight matches on home turf. The atmosphere in the stadium becomes particularly charged when traditional powerhouses come to play.

For instance, last season, in eight league and cup matches hosted against Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Spurs, Newcastle secured six victories, with two draws and no defeats.

The supporter group Wor Flags has played a significant role in creating the atmosphere and aims to do so again on Monday.

They have organized a pre-match display, though organizing it has been challenging since Isak expressed his desire to move to Liverpool.

Wor Flags volunteer and Newcastle season ticket holder Thomas Concannon expressed, "We fully understand the whole situation.

"This is why it has been quite difficult for us as a group to establish a clear direction because there are many differing views on the matter, making it tough to unify our perspective.

"We believe we've devised something that strikes the right chord. We will go all out as usual, but our primary goal is to support the players on the field, as that is what truly matters.

"It feels incredibly significant. It seems that more than just three points are at stake. It's rather unusual; it's like Newcastle is entering a match against a historic rival."

Ekitike takes the spotlight

What an opportune moment for Hugo Ekitike to visit St James' for the first time after Liverpool triumphed over Newcastle to sign the French forward last month.

Ekitike is a player Howe is very familiar with, and without hesitation, he can provide a succinct scouting summary: excellent movement, clever, strong in the air, and capable of scoring with both feet. This was what Newcastle aimed for.

"There is no question that I have a strong liking for Hugo, and that has been the case for several years," Howe stated. "He was an individual we monitored for quite a while."

That is putting it lightly.

In reality, Newcastle made three attempts to acquire Ekitike over a span of three and a half years.

Their first initiative occurred in January 2022, a time when Ekitike was not particularly well-known.

Nevertheless, the 23-year-old always exhibited considerable potential.

Few are more aware of this than former Brighton manager Oscar Garcia, who had the opportunity to work with Ekitike at Reims during that period.

"You don’t encounter many strikers of his caliber at such a young age," Garcia recently mentioned to BBC Sport. "He possesses height, speed, agility, excels in one-on-one situations, retains possession well, and finds the back of the net. He can adapt to teams that play on the counter-attack as well as those that control possession because he has the abilities suitable for both playing styles.

"Hugo understands which areas require improvement, but he also needs support to harness his potential and reach the level that everyone familiar with him believes he can achieve."

Yet, Newcastle was not the only Premier League club to recognize these attributes.

Liverpool had been keeping an eye on Ekitike for a while as well, particularly after he regained his form at Eintracht Frankfurt following a challenging period at Paris St-Germain.

While Newcastle initiated the first contact with Eintracht last month, Ekitike was already looking towards a £69 million transfer to Liverpool, having previously had discussions with Slot.

This became a pivotal moment in the transfer window in more ways than one.

Isak nearing a deadline

There is little doubt that this decision impacted the saga surrounding Isak.

Had Newcastle succeeded in signing Ekitike, they would have had a potential successor ready and still time to seek out another striker to take over from Callum Wilson, who departed last month.

However, after missing out on Benjamin Sesko, who signed with Manchester United, Newcastle is now racing against time to secure even one center-forward before the 1 September deadline—let alone two.

It is no surprise that the club does not anticipate meeting the "conditions" for Isak’s sale in the closing moments of the transfer window.

Additionally, there's the potential for Liverpool to present an enhanced offer for Isak, which could compel Newcastle to make a choice, especially since the Magpies have remained resolute so far.

Understandably, Slot refrained from discussing the possibility of Liverpool revisiting the scenario with Isak.

However, the Liverpool manager is aware of what awaits at St. James' Park, irrespective of the context surrounding the match.

Newcastle's triumph over Liverpool in the previous season's Carabao Cup final highlights the considerable challenge that awaits the visitors on Tyneside.

"It's unrelated to anything portrayed in the media," Slot remarked. "When you visit Newcastle, you know what you're up against.

"We faced them three times last season, and their levels of intensity were significantly higher than ours. Particularly during the away match (which ended in a 3-3 draw in December), they exhibited immense intensity in the first 60 minutes. They thoroughly earned their lead, and in the League Cup final, they outperformed us in terms of intensity.

"Hence, I believe they do not need anything extra when playing at St. James' Park."