One aspect of Alexander Isak’s transfer from Newcastle United to Liverpool on deadline day surprised Alan Shearer.
The Toon legend got his wish before 7pm, as Newcastle bought a striker to facilitate Alexander Isak leaving for Liverpool.
Yoane Wissa joined from Brentford, ensuring that Eddie Howe is not short of attacking options.
However, Alan Shearer has admitted that he was wondering whether the Magpies could have tried to pull off one more transfer before the window slammed shut.
More specifically, he had eyes on Harvey Elliott.
Harvey Elliott sitting on the Liverpool bench.
Photo by Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images
Alan Shearer thought Newcastle United could have moved for Harvey Elliott
Speaking on the latest episode of the Rest Is Football podcast, Shearer reflected on deadline day alongside Gary Lineker and Micah Richards.
The trio discussed Elliott’s move from Liverpool to Aston Villa, prompting Shearer to question why Newcastle did not try to include the 22-year-old in the Alexander Isak deal.
“The Harvey Elliott one, I think he’s a really good player,” he said.
“I didn’t know whether Newcastle might try to get him in the deal that saw Isak go to Liverpool.
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“But he’s gone to Villa. I think that’s a good buy for them.”
Interestingly, Geordie Boot Boys suggested that Newcastle should have moved for Elliott on deadline day as part of the Isak deal.
Instead, the midfielder has moved to Aston Villa on loan with an obligation to buy for £35million. It is a great bit of business by Unai Emery, who has endured a frustrating summer at Villa Park.
Why Aston Villa did not sign Will Osula from Newcastle United on transfer deadline day
As well as Elliott, Aston Villa wanted to sign Will Osula on transfer deadline day.
The 22-year-old striker was linked with a move to Villa Park, only for Eintracht Frankfurt to emerge as the frontrunners for his signature.
It was reported that Frankfurt were paying £30million for Osula, but that deal collapsed late in the day.
When it came to Villa’s interest, their potential deal collapsed for a very strange reason.
Villa had agreed a loan deal for Osula, but it went no further as UEFA would effectively have seen it as a swap deal due to Newcastle buying Jacob Ramsey earlier in the summer. That would have impacted the profit they made on that deal, which is why Osula was not able to join them.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein explained the situation in greater detail on the Athletic YouTube channel during deadline day.
“They were pursuing Osula from Newcastle as a potential loan, I don’t know if it had an option or obligation because Newcastle wouldn’t have been interested in a straight loan,” he said.
“But they weren’t really able to proceed on it Villa because it would have been characterised under UEFA accounting methods as being like a swap. And by that, I mean a player has already gone from Villa to Newcastle and that was Jacob Ramsey for a significant profit.
“UEFA would have seen it as a trade-off, even though we might see them as independent deals, and they then would have amended downwards the profit that Aston Villa had gained from that transfer. That basically stopped Villa from doing the Osula deal because they cannot afford to lose the profit from an accounting perspective that they gained from the Ramsey transfer.”