Newcastle United do not want to lose Alexander Isak this summer and the Magpies could send a strong message to champions Liverpool by holding firm
Ciaran covers Newcastle United for the Journal and ChronicleLive. Originally from Galway in the west of Ireland, Ciaran joined us from the Manchester Evening News, where he was Manchester United writer, in February, 2019. Ciaran previously wrote a book on Jose Mourinho entitled 'The Rise of the Translator'.
Alexander Isak celebrates after scoring for Newcastle United against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final
Alexander Isak celebrates after scoring for Newcastle United against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final
Life goes on. Liverpool have proved that. After losing Philippe Coutinho, the Reds went on to sign Virgil van Dijk and Alisson with the proceeds. It was an inspired piece of business.
However, there is a difference between selling a key player to Barcelona, as Liverpool did, and Newcastle United allowing their talisman, Alexander Isak, to move to the champions of England.
It would be a flex on Liverpool's part - Andy Carroll's 2011 move on a whole different scale - but it would also spell out the challenge that Newcastle face to close the gap on the top in a PSR world.
Only this is not the Ashley era. Newcastle are not a relegation-threatened side vulnerable to being cherry-picked like in days gone by. Heck, unlike a year ago, the club are not under pressure to raise funds, either.
Having disrupted the established order on the field, and even beaten Liverpool to win the club's first major domestic trophy in 70 years, Newcastle cannot allow themselves to be bullied off it.
The early indications are they won't. Newcastle have long made it clear that Isak is not for sale - and certainly not for £120m.
CEO Darren Eales even went on the record to declare that it would be 'crazy to even consider it' a few months ago.
In truth, senior figures at the club have long grown tired of Isak being touted when Newcastle want to compete with his suitors at the very top.
"There is a sense of annoyance as we are almost seen as the next category down and it is fair game to talk about our players," Eales previously admitted. "But we are striving as a club to be at the top table and we want our best players here."
That stance will inevitably be tested, of course, and there is an argument to be made that a nine-figure fee could be transformative for Newcastle to potentially address several key positions across the pitch.
However, that overlooks the fact such deals are complicated to do for quality players - let alone in the final weeks of the window when selling clubs know the Magpies have a war chest.
Then there is the small matter of Isak's importance to the side.
For context, only Mohamed Salah scored more goals in the top-flight in 2024-25. In the four games that Isak missed last season, the black-and-whites tellingly failed to win any of them and failed to score from open play.
No player is irreplaceable, but Isak comes very close.