I’ll never forget the sense of relief that washed over me when the final whistle went at Wembley. That, in large part, was due to Alexander Isak.
As the saga of the summer concludes and the Swede departs, it is a whole different kind of relief I feel. If you’d have told me this would be my emotion less than six months on from that famous day, I would not have believed you.
I fully understand that losing one of the world’s best strikers is not ideal. I also accept that it may be viewed as a capitulation to the big bullies from Anfield. But the fact is that Isak’s position at Newcastle United was untenable. He had to go.
Player power has ultimately won, and there is a possibility this type of behaviour could be repeated in future by others who want to leave. However, the idea that Newcastle have been bullied or in some way been made fools of just doesn’t ring true.
What we have witnessed over the last six weeks has been a very public, unedifying transfer negotiation, with journalists and aggregators paid to keep the story running. When all is said and done, Newcastle and Liverpool met somewhere in the middle of their starting point for negotiations.
Newcastle have extracted the third largest transfer fee in history for a player who has missed one third of league games over three seasons. Call it copium if you want, and nobody is going to pretend Isak is anything other than a phenomenal footballer when at his best, but it is fact that his injury record is poor. He’s missed equivalent of an entire league season since joining the Magpies in 2022.
Isak’s unprofessional behaviour had the desired effect of devaluing him and getting him his move, but it also raises serious questions about his character. Playing for Newcastle United is an honour. Being coached by Eddie Howe is a privilege.
Isak forfeited his right to represent this great club and the city by refusing to train and play. He let everybody down, and there are valid questions about his motivation at points last season. His bad form after the cup final was excused by fans and shrugged off as fitness problems and a groin injury – it looks now that it was more about his application. It is hard to ignore the nagging suspicion that he made himself unavailable for the Arsenal game in which a win would have seen Newcastle move to second position in the league and guarantee Champions League football. His mind was clearly elsewhere.
Eddie Howe has created a tight-knit group which is held together by a togetherness and unity. There is no space in this culture for a toxic presence like Isak. The reception from his teammates would have been interesting if there had been an effort to reintegrate him, especially given Isak’s absence has undoubtedly cost Newcastle points this season. Points that his teammates were giving everything to try and obtain.
Howe left the door open for as long as he could and would have employed all his man management skills to get Isak playing again, but he will surely be as relieved as anyone that the bad apple has gone. It doesn’t matter how good you are as a footballer, if your attitude is wrong then you are no use.
It was never realistic that Isak would have stayed and played in the reserves until January or beyond. His value would have dropped, and he would have continued to pick up his wages. It would have cost tens of millions of pounds and been financially irresponsible in the extreme to allow that to happen. In that context the £130m fee extracted from Liverpool looks like good business. Pragmatism, not weakness.
The moment Nick Woltemade signed for Newcastle is the moment Isak’s fate was sealed. We were no longer desperately reliant on him. There was a path to the exit door.
This has been a challenging and bruising situation. There are lessons to be learned from the Newcastle hierarchy when it comes to dealing with superstars and their agents, and in how to control a narrative and manipulate optics. There will be a review into how it got to this point and the executive power vacuum that occurred for the second summer in a row cannot be allowed to happen again.
But, as Howe has been at pains to say from the beginning, all that matters is the long-term interests of Newcastle United. It’s up to the club to set emotion aside and to act with business logic and sense. That is exactly what they have done.
It is immensely sad that Isak saw fit to trash his Newcastle legacy, that he has not thought twice about the feelings of the fanbase who so publicly supported and idolised him. It’s incredulous that Isak doesn’t appear to appreciate what Newcastle United and Eddie Howe gave him. That he couldn’t remain professional and respectful despite wanting to leave is the thing that is really hard to swallow.
It taints incredible, life changing memories of that day at Wembley. It feels like betrayal, and it hurts, but this is where things have ended up. Liverpool would do well to heed the warning of the last few months if Isak decides he wants to move to Madrid in a few years.
A goal scorer in a winning cup final should have been a hero forever, but he chose another way. Regardless of the path his career takes now or how Newcastle replace his goals in the short-term, it is an overwhelming relief that he has gone.