Newcastle United defender Dan burn has spoken to the media about former Mag Alexander Isak while on England media duties on Friday.
This is the first time a Newcastle player has talked about the transfer since it was confirmed on deadline day, with the experienced Geordie speaking openly about the situation when facing the press from St. George’s Park.
Burn offers a balanced view on the spectacle, talking about his views as a Newcastle supporter, while also being stuck between a rock and a hard place, considering Isak as “a mate” who created a “tough situation” for his teammates.
“I’m glad it’s done,” Burn said. “I think we just wanted the transfer window to close and have a bit of clarity on it, but listen, I’ve been in football long enough to understand that for a player their careers are short and they have things that they want to achieve.”
“So for me, I’m happy that it’s over. I mean Alex is a mate, so it was a tough situation, so you want him to be around and helping the team, but also understand what he needs to do personally. So listen I’ve got nothing but good wishes for Alex.”
Burn was then asked by a journalist if he had any animosity towards the 25-year-old, to which he replied:
“No, no animosity. Listen, as a Newcastle fan, you know what Newcastle fans are like – very protective of our club, the city and you want players who want to be there, to play for Newcastle. And you don’t want them sort of naively think there’s anywhere to go apart from play at Newcastle, so I understand why our fans are frustrated.”
“But as I said, I’ve been in the game long enough now to understand what goes on and, as I said, I wish Alex all the best – apart from when we play Liverpool, obviously.”
Isak took strike action from the club’s regular first team duties to force a move to Liverpool, missing all of our pre-season games, refusing to travel to our trip to the Far East and sitting our opening three games of the new season, where we dropped points in his absence.
But, he got his way in the end, sealing a £130m switch to Anfield in the final moments of deadline day.