Liverpool prepare big Alexander Isak gesture as Florian Wirtz made to wait

Liverpool are planning to give Alexander Isak a special gift upon his arrival on Merseyside, if the club can agree on a fee with Newcastle. The Swedish striker has made his intentions clear to leave St James' Park and is currently training alone at Real Sociedad's facilities in Spain, away from the rest of the squad on tour in the Far East.

Arne Slot's side are expected to lodge an opening bid of £100million for the wantaway striker, while Newcastle are holding out for £150m. The expectation is that the two Premier League clubs may meet in the middle on a compromise that suits all parties.

The Manchester Evening News claim that Liverpool are currently deciding on their shirt numbers for the coming season and may leave Isak's preferred 14 jersey free, with the hope that a deal gets over the line.

Isak has worn 14 for the entirety of his Newcastle career and also did so at Borussia Dortmund, donning 19 in between at Sociedad.

Liverpool have already welcomed a raft of new signings for the coming season, including Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong.

It remains to be seen if any of the quartet have a desire to wear the same number on the back of their shirt, but the club are pausing before they switch from Nike to Adidas later this week and the new signings have been made to wait.

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It should be noted that the 14 jersey is not vacant on Merseyside, it currently belongs to Federico Chiesa.

The Italian arrived with big hopes as their only incoming last summer, but was reduced to a handful of appearances and is linked with a return to Serie A.

But as it stands, Chiesa is a Liverpool player and the club are considering giving his number to Isak, such is the strength of their desire to land the Premier League's second-top scorer last season behind Mohamed Salah.

There had been murmurs that Isak could take the iconic number nine shirt at Newcastle, following Callum Wilson's exit, but he took up 14 because of his idol Thierry Henry and spurned the chance to switch.

"I would probably stay with No.14, yeah," Isak said. "I think it's a difficult one because I've been successful with No.14, and it would probably not be an easy decision."

He added to Alan Shearer the significance of wearing 14, which may be kept waiting for him at Liverpool: "He [Henry] was definitely one player I liked a bit extra.

"Many great players have had number 14, you have [David] Ginola from Newcastle as well. When I signed for Newcastle, out of the numbers that was available, I think 14 was the most iconic one."