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He's a mini Isak: Why Liverpool want to sign £100m striker

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Published Aug 31, 2026, 5:10 PM GMT+1

Matt specialises in football analysis, transfer insight and original feature writing across the Premier League, EFL and Scottish football.

A sports writer for 15 years, Matt graduated with a BA in Sports Journalism in 2018 and has developed particular expertise in Arsenal and the wider Premier League while also reporting on clubs including Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds United, Celtic, Rangers and teams across the EFL. He joined Football FanCast as part of its writing team in 2019 before progressing to Assistant Editor and then becoming a Senior Editor in 2021.

His work combines authoritative reporting with data-led analysis, tactical insight and informed transfer assessment. Matt regularly examines how players fit into different systems, what their underlying numbers reveal about their performances and whether transfer targets represent realistic solutions for clubs. His analysis aims to go beyond the headline, explaining not just what has happened but what it means for a team, manager or player.

Matt's journalism has also appeared through the Press Association, with his work featured by Sky Sports and the Daily Mail. He previously served as Arsenal and Premier League Editor at VAVEL and gained first-hand club-media experience with Chesterfield FC. Over his career, he has interviewed figures including Arsène Wenger, Ray Parlour, Alan Smith, Lucy Bronze and Steph Houghton. Matt's voice has been heard across Arsenal Fan TV and Love Sport Radio.

Through his reporting, analysis and features, Matt brings readers credible football insight grounded in research, statistics, tactical understanding and years of experience covering the professional game.

Today, Matt leads Football FanCast's features team as Senior Editor, overseeing the publication's opinion coverage while helping shape its overall editorial standards and content strategy.

Would it be safe to say that Liverpool's transfer window has been a mess? It is hard to dispute otherwise.

The Reds may well have secured the signing of Bradley Barcola for a mind-boggling fee of £120m but that aside, this has been a rather sorry summer for Andoni Iraola and Co.

They arguably still haven't replaced Mohamed Salah and they are still feeling the negative effects of the business concluded a year ago.

Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong have been the scapegoats in defence while Alexander Isak is still enduring a topsy-turvy Anfield career.

How Alexander Isak has started the season

Last term was a difficult one for Isak, we'll give him that.

The Swede arrived in Merseyside as perhaps the Premier League's second best striker behind Erling Haaland but his stock has quickly fallen, not just because of injury, but because when he did play for Liverpool last season, he looked miles off the pace. Indeed, Isak netted just four times in 22 outings.

So, his performance against Nottingham Forest on Saturday lunchtime was a positive, right? Well, maybe.

Isak did find the net from close range, supplied by Cody Gakpo, but that aside he was rarely involved. Sure, there was a lack of service, but the former Newcastle man spent most of the game isolated. He had just 14 touches and only completed two passes all match. That rather said it all.

Against his former employers a week ago there were similar problems for Isak. He missed two big chances, failed to complete any of his dribbles and only made ten passes.

The Premier League's record signing was also usurped in the penalty taking pecking order by Dominik Szoboszlai. The pressure will have been colossal if Isak stepped up to take that last-minute spot kick but it said it all that Liverpool did not trust him enough in that scenario.

So, despite his earth shattering £125m transfer fee, Iraola and Co could look at replacing him before too long.

How Liverpool could replace Isak

There is a feeling that Isak will come good. He's too good not to. Yet, when does patience run out? Well, for some inside Anfield on Saturday, they will have had their head in their hands when the ball went near him.

How have we got to a situation where such an expensive player looks this ordinary? It's difficult to work out both him and Florian Wirtz, truth be told.

Newcastle United's Nick Woltemade with Liverpool's Florian Wirtz after the match

Well, perhaps Liverpool could make a move to provide both of them with added competition in 2027. Indeed, according to Caught Offside, the Merseysiders are one of two Premier League clubs to have held talks with Bournemouth this summer regarding striker Eli Junior Kroupi.

Manchester United have also made an enquiry while Kroupi is further fielding interest from Arsenal. For Liverpool, this would be another colossal move having been priced at £100m this summer.

Kroupi will not move before this summer's deadline due to a foot injury but the Cherries could well cash in next January or next summer.

So, what's all the hype? Well, the 20-year-old is something of a mini Isak. He's a more diminutive character at 5 foot 9 but that has not stopped him from dominating defences in England.

Last season, he scored 13 goals in the top-flight. For context, aged 19, no teenager has ever scored more goals throughout their debut Premier League campaign than him.

Leading teenage goalscorers - Premier League history

Player

Goal tally

1. Michael Owen	40
2. Robbie Fowler	35
3. Wayne Rooney	30
4. Mason Greenwood	20
5. Nicolas Anelka	19
6. Alan Smith	17
=6. Francis Jeffers	17
8. Raheem Sterling	14
=8. Romelu Lukaku	14
=8. Chris Bart-Williams	14
11. Eli Junior Kroupi	13

He's special, alright, notably hailed by former Liverpool man Daniel Sturridge as "one of the best finishers in the Premier League".

You cannot deny that. Kroupi is a phenomenal finisher, much like Isak in his prime at Newcastle. Last term, only four players had a better conversion rate in front of goal than Kroupi's 22%. Those players were Nick Woltemade, Danny Welbeck, Noah Okafor and William Osula.

What makes him similar to Isak is his ability to run in behind. They are both devastating inside the penalty area but Kroupi, despite his ability to play as a number 10 as well, is very much a run-in behind sort of centre-forward, someone who will dart down the channels and play on the shoulder of the last line of defence.

He's also a classic poacher, as is Isak. Teammate Adrien Truffert notably described Kroupi as a "fox in the box" last season, a phrase you can very much associate with Liverpool's number nine.

So, while he may not be available right now, he could be a devastating addition to Iraola's frontline next year. He is certainly one of the best young strikers in Europe right now.

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