Premier League clubs aggressively pursued strikers this summer, with Chelsea signing Liam Delap and João Pedro, Arsenal signing Viktor Gyökeres, and Liverpool signing Hugo Ekitike. Liverpool later tried to acquire Alexander Isak from Newcastle, while Newcastle had targeted Ekitike until Liverpool intervened, leaving Newcastle without an immediate Isak replacement. Newcastle then pursued Benjamin Sesko, but Manchester United signed him instead. Financial and transfer constraints pushed Darwin Núñez to Al Hilal after Napoli could not meet Liverpool's demands. Saudi-linked ownership and funding influenced multiple moves and created circular, interdependent transfer outcomes.
This summer, everyone wanted a striker. First, Chelsea signed Liam Delap from Ipswich Town and João Pedro from Brighton. Then Arsenal signed Viktor Gyökeres from Sporting CP, and Liverpool signed Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt. Then Liverpool tried to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle, before he publicly stated he no longer wants to play for Newcastle. Except, Newcastle were about to sign Ekitike, a strikingly similar player to Isak, until Liverpool jumped in.
However, Núñez's main suitor, Napoli, couldn't afford Liverpool's transfer ask and the player's salary request, so he instead moved to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia. Put another way: Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund gave Liverpool €53 million to sign a player to Al Hilal that Liverpool are trying to replace with another player who plays for another team owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, in Newcastle.
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