What the ECHO understands about Alexander Isak transfer as Liverpool watch on with week to go

What the ECHO understands about Alexander Isak transfer as Liverpool watch on with week to go

The ECHO takes a closer look at Alexander Isak's situation at Newcastle and what has led to him going on strike at Newcastle in an effort to join Liverpool

Liverpool transfer target Alexander Isak (Image: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

It was the Autumn of last year when Alexander Isak likely felt the first of what he feels have been a series of public slights against his character at Newcastle United. Without a win in four games before a trip to Chelsea towards the end of October, Isak was told publicly by his manager, Eddie Howe, that he should be fixing his gaze on football far more than a new contract.

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“I want Alex to be focused on football,” Howe said at the time. “If that’s him saying I’ve got four years left on my contract, I’m happy at the football club and I just want to play my best football, that’s the ideal world.

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“But nothing in football’s straightforward so I’m sure there will be ongoing discussions between Alex, his representatives and the club. But my main job at the moment is just to get Alex fit and playing his best football, enjoying his best football and scoring goals.

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Alexander Isak alternatives considered as Liverpool transfer deadline set for Plan B READ MORE:

“Alex can only help his situation by playing well. Every decision we make has a knock-on effect. For contract renewals, there’s a knock-on effect for PSR and we have to make sure we don’t put ourselves in a position where we can’t act freely in the transfer windows because of what we’ve done with individual player contracts.

“It’s slightly complex. We have to be really careful regarding our spending. It’s not a clearcut situation with Alex. We love him and are desperate for him to stay for many years and score loads and loads of goals, but I don’t see a short-term issue with his contract.”

If Howe did not foresee "a short-term issue" with the contract situation of his star striker back then, there was most certainly a longer-term problem that was starting to bubble away.

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But to get to the point where Isak currently finds himself - on a self-imposed exile, frozen out of tonight's potential blockbuster between his current employers and the club he covets most - you have to trawl back over 12 months.

The shock announcement of Amanda Staveley's Newcastle departure is what has greased the wheels for Isak's eventual exit strategy. Staveley, alongside her husband, Mehrdad Ghodoussi, were co-owners with a 10% stake and had been integral to reshaping both the club's playing staff and, subsequently, its hopes and expectations following their arrival in 2022.

And having scored 21 goals in 30 appearances in the 2023/24 campaign, Isak felt his performances were worthy of making him one of the top earners at St James' Park alongside Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon, two others brought in during that flurry of Saudi-funded transfer activity that dramatically changed the fortunes on Tyneside.

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It was Staveley, whose relationship with key figures in the squad was said to have been almost maternal-like, who reportedly promised Isak improved terms after his superlative displays and she had harboured grave concerns that Newcastle's struggle to meet the demands of the league's Profit and Sustainability Rules in the summer of 2024 could have even led to the sale of the centre-forward, prior to dash to the deadline in late June, when Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh were eventually offloaded for around £60m instead.

Her sudden exit in July of last year, however, coincided with the arrival of Paul Mitchell as sporting director, who - according to some in the North East - was a far more cantankerous and confrontational character during his time. The former Monaco executive "ruffled more feathers than a cock in a henhouse" to quote one.

Having replaced Dan Ashworth in the role, it was Mitchell who was said to have decreed that, given the PSR issues that Newcastle almost fell foul of in the summer of 2024, a new deal for Isak, who still had four years left to run at that point, was essentially an outgoing that didn't need to be spent.

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Despite his red-hot form, the wage bill did not need burdening further according to Mitchell, and plans for negotiations around a new deal were shelved.

As a result, Isak has remained tethered to the same terms signed when he joined on a six-year contract from Real Sociedad for a club-record £63m, and while his reported £120,000-a-week deal hardly makes him a Premier League pauper, the Sweden international has been earning nowhere near what many of his elite-level contemporaries have been.

It's here where the sticking point lies, with the player citing broken promises in an explosive public statement, sent via his Instagram account on Tuesday night, just minutes after he was included in the PFA Team of the Year.

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Isak was conspicuous only by his absence on the night as his theoretical team-mates stood together on stage at the Manchester Opera House, but the timing of the statement was said to have set tongues wagging during the glitzy event. It must be stressed, the player's version of events is disputed by the club themselves, who insist no formal agreement was in place over improved terms.

Howe, however, has since confirmed that talks between he and Isak did in fact take place. The manager refused to divulge the specifics of those conversations but his words appear to jar with the Newcastle line, which has, as a result, portrayed Isak as something of a mercenary.

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"It happens in a lot of transfers," former Liverpool and Newcastle striker Michael Owen tells the ECHO. "Because this one’s big news, it’s all in the public eye. The problem is, if a footballer is under contract, then basically the club rules the roost. Unless you kick up a fuss, nothing will happen."

Speaking in March, Howe perhaps inadvertently pulled the curtain back on what the salient point has been all along for Isak and his camp when he said: “I don’t think contract talks started, I think that’s the issue. If you are going to say they stalled when they never started, that's a problem!"

Qualification to the Champions League, aided in no small part by Isak's 23 Premier League goals last season, was viewed by some as the death knell for Liverpool's pursuit in May.

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With the riches afforded to the Magpies from Europe's premier competition; one that is now more lucrative than ever, a second successive firesale was not needed, making the transfer of their top scorer a non-starter, unless he agitated to leave.

Having arrived in the Premier League without a history of such behaviour during a career that had seen him turn out for Swedish side AIK, Borussia Dortmund and Sociedad before Newcastle, a downing of tools appeared unlikely.

That was, of course, until Isak was left out of the friendly at Celtic on July 19, where Newcastle were soundly beaten in Glasgow and Howe raised eyebrows by admitting that he "respected that a player’s career is short". That was days before the No.14 was left out of the pre-season tour of the Far East, with a minor thigh complaint cited.

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Isak had travelled with the squad earlier that week to their training camp in Seefeld, Austria, but having departed on July 14, the Reds were reported to have made direct contact with their Premier League counterparts the following day, which was the catalyst for him to begin his so-far-unsuccessful exit strategy. It was said to have been stressed in those conversations that the champions were willing to offer around £120m for the wantaway frontman.

"It’s plain for all to see that Isak will be going nowhere unless he really forces it," Owen, who played for both clubs, adds. "And he’ll have been advised that a while ago. That’s what we’re now seeing – a standoff. Newcastle don’t have a replacement, so it’s very hard for them to let him go. It’s all going to be played out in public now.

"What options does he have? If he’s desperate to move, he’s tried to do it nicely. His statement suggests this has been talked about for a long time. So now he’s playing all the cards he’s got.

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"It’s not pretty, and it’s not a good look, but if he thinks it’s the only way to enhance his career, then I get why he’s doing it. It’s just one of those unfortunate situations."

There has also been talk from Newcastle circles that the player's agent, Vlado Lemic, is making a play for one final mega deal before he begins to wind down as his 60s approach.

But painting the actions of a largely unknown agent as the driving factor does a disservice to the player's own agency, even if that has been done deliberately to distance the ill-feeling from the star striker himself, who may still be made to return to the fold and be tasked with once more scoring goals.

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"What a f****** mess Alexander Isak's agent has made," raged Toon legend Alan Shearer last week. "If I was Isak, I'd sack the agent immediately, because he was meant to be giving Isak advice when he signed a six-year deal at Newcastle with no get out clause in 2022.

"I'd also ask, who's advising Isak? He signed his six-year contract without a release clause in it. That is his doing, that is his agent's doing. They should have had a get out clause in the contract. He's being given bad advice and the way he's going about it is wrong."

Isak is reported to have made it known that he won't countenance ever playing again for Newcastle but staying publicly silent on the matter has allowed those in the North East to air their frustrations at the agents, advisors and representatives as opposed to the man himself. It provided a healthy degree of separation and left Lemic, rarely mentioned by name, to be the fall-guy for the ire.

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The statement published on Isak's Instagram story has since obliterated that and even if there might reasonably have been some guidance around the wording, the messaging and, most pointedly, the timing; those words are ultimately attributed publicly to the 25-year-old.

"I've kept quiet for a long time while others have spoken," he said. "That silence has allowed people to push their own version of events, even though they know it doesn't reflect what was really said and agreed behind closed doors.

"The reality is that promises were made and the club has known my position for a long time. To now act as if these issues are only emerging is misleading. When promises are broken and trust is lost, the relationship can't continue."

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Owen, speaking to the ECHO via 247Bet, says: "He’d said nothing until [the statement], and I don’t blame him for putting a statement out. Lots of people have been talking on his behalf, and once somebody says something, it becomes gospel, even if it’s not from him. At least now he’s come out and clarified things.

"He seems to be getting a pasting from everybody – hundreds of fans and so on. I don’t condone somebody not turning up for work, but I also know this kind of thing happens 90% of the time the other way around, when it’s clubs forcing players out.

"Fans idolise the badge, and footballers often come out looking like the bad guy. I’m not saying Isak’s right, but transfers can be nasty. Clubs will make players train with the kids, or at awkward times, just to force them out. It’s not a nice world sometimes.

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"So, I’ll be one person to stick up for a footballer. I don’t condone what he’s done, but I also don’t condone what clubs often do. This might be his one chance in his life to sign for probably the best team in the world right now. If he wants to progress his career and make things better for his family, I can see where he’s coming from – even if I don’t condone going on strike."

Liverpool, feeling this is still a Newcastle United story, have kept their counsel for the most part. After seeing a flat £110m bid rejected at the beginning of August, the Reds have stepped away after being made clear that a sale would only be considered if the Magpies could find an adequate successor.

That search has slowed down in recent days having seen Benjamin Sesko join Manchester United. Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Hugo Ekitike have also slipped through their grasp during a chastening summer transfer window, led by Howe's nephew, Andy, in lieu of an actual sporting director following Mitchell's exit.

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Liverpool's initial offer has been criticised by some in the national media but while the figure may be some way short of the £150m valuation Newcastle have placed on Isak, dismissing what would be a British transfer record fee as some sort of derisory insult is in poor taste.

It's understood key figures at Anfield saw little point in amplifying the noise around an already loud saga by getting involved both on and off the record, and they have tried, for now, to maintain their silence on the matter, even when head coach Arne Slot has been quizzed directly on it during press conferences. As expected, the head coach sidestepped questions in his Thursday press conference.

Despite the attempt to place some distance between themselves and the messy situation at St James', however, the Reds will return to the negotiating table if they are given encouragement.

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Newcastle's response to Isak's statement, released a couple of hours later on Tuesday night, though, means that appears a remote prospect on the eve of the fixture between the two.

“We are clear in response that Alex remains under contract and that no commitment has ever been made by a club official that Alex can leave Newcastle United this summer," read the Magpies' response. “We want to keep our best players, but we also understand players have their own wishes and we listen to their views.

"As explained to Alex and his representatives, we must always take into consideration the best interests of Newcastle United, the team and our supporters in all decisions and we have been clear that the conditions of a sale this summer have not transpired. We do not foresee those conditions being met."

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Sources in the North East had spoken about how posturing on both sides might see an eventual deal struck at around the £130m mark, but that was before Newcastle were blindsided by Isak's statement and the subsequent fury that it was met with by key figures in the club's ownership structure, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia; one of the most powerful entities on earth.

Owen adds: "Newcastle are wealthy enough to play hardball if they want to make a statement. He’s under contract, so Newcastle holds the cards. If this is a game of poker, Newcastle hold the two aces.

"Common sense would say he goes to Liverpool and Newcastle get handsomely paid. But if Newcastle really want to make a statement, then he’ll still be at Newcastle. It’s so hard to say."

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Newcastle paints itself as the city of sanctuary. For Alexander Isak right now, it is anything but. A defining week now awaits for all parties.

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