Barely 24 hours after praising Gary Neville for his spot-on assessment of last Sunday’s Carabao Cup final performance, he’s only gone and followed that up with one of the oddest takes you’ll see all weekend.
Neville correctly concluded that Newcastle got the balance between passion and emotion correct when they graced the Wembley pitch to put an end to the clubs 70-year domestic trophy drought.
But credit in the bank has quickly diminished following some pretty odd and arrogant comments summing up a lot of the media discourse that has surrounded Newcastle this season.
Gary Neville has bafflingly listed Manchester United alongside Real Madrid, Liverpool and Bayern Munich as clubs that may turn Alexander Isak’s head away from Newcastle.
Speaking onIt’s Called Soccer the Sky presenter claimed that Newcastle are “going to struggle to hold on to Isak at some point, he’s going to want to play somewhere else,” which may well be true.
“Newcastle is a great football club, but he will want to play for Real Madrid’s, and Liverpool’s, Man United’s, and Bayern Munich’s.”
If it’s ambition that may draw Isak away, then it’s certainly odd to namecheck a side in freefall and on course to finish the season in the bottom half of the Premier League.
Real Madrid: Champions League and La Liga winners in 2023-24. Liverpool: Premier League champions-elect with a new, young manager who should go from strength to strength. Bayern: Set to continue their monopoly of German football and regain the Bundesliga title this season, have reached at least the quarter-finals the last six UCL seasons.
Manchester United: 28 points from 20th in the Premier League, 33 points behind league leaders Liverpool. Incredibly slim chance of finishing in a European spot in the league and out of all cup competitions.
The club is in an absolute mess. Issues from the Glazer family have somehow managed to get worse since INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe joined the fray.
They are certainly not in the conversation of elite European sides at the moment and would be a tough sell for a world class striker who wants to win more trophies, if that’s what Neville thinks would turn Isak’s head.
😂😂😂 wait for it pic.twitter.com/SvSkHwaEDb
— Lewis Bowden (@LewisBowden_) March 23, 2025
David Ornstein has reported that Newcastle have “no intention” of parting ways with Alexander Isak this summer while speaking on NBC Sports Soccer.
The Swedish centre-forward would hardly be short of potential suitors and is one of the most sought-after Premier League stars. 19 league goals this season and counting has seen the 25-year-old linked with both Liverpool and Arsenal.
We have control over the situation says Ornstein:“Newcastle have no intention of selling Isak: they’ve got him under contract until 2028, they pay him very handsomely, and if anything, they want to renew his deal and build with him for the future, not without him.”
“The talk around the industry is that a figure in the region of £150m even to discuss it with Newcastle – but that’s all hypothetical at this point.”