Michael Owen has given his verdict on whether Newcastle United should sell Isak to Liverpool.
Arne Slot will surely be even more attracted to the Swede after he scored Newcastle United’s second goal at Wembley on the way to their Carabao Cup win earlier in March.
Alexander Isak has been fantastic this season, scoring 23 goals in all competitions for the Magpies. There’s no doubt that those sorts of numbers mean there will be transfer speculation in the summer. Isak to Liverpool will be a big transfer story in the summer. That’s according to David Ornstein, and many other pundits believe exactly the same as him.
The 25-year-old still has over three years left on his existing deal, and the belief is that it would take a mammoth bid for Newcastle to even consider selling him in the summer. Eddie Howe wants to build his Newcastle team around Isak, a clear sign of how big a fan he is of his work.
Despite his contract length, Newcastle want to give Isak a new deal and are willing to make him the club’s highest earner, trumping Bruno Guimaraes’ £160,000-a-week wage which currently tops the charts.
With Newcastle set to be in a battle to keep their star man, Michael Owen has weighed in on whether his former club should sell the Swede.
Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Michael Owen urges Newcastle not to sell Alexander Isak
Owen isn’t the most well-liked figure on Tyneside, with the former Toon striker’s time at the club marred by injury and comments from the past that have been less than favourable.
Reports have suggested that Liverpool want Isak to replace Mohamed Salah as the Egyptian looks likely to leave the club in the summer at the end of his contract.
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Owen considers himself a Liverpool legend, but in a recent interview with TalkSPORT, he has urged Newcastle not to give Isak the opportunity to etch himself in the Reds’ history books.
“If Isak was available I think Liverpool would do everything in their power to get somebody like that,” he said. “But so would Arsenal.
“Arsenal are absolutely desperate for a player like that. Who wouldn’t be desperate for a player like that.
READ MORE: Who is Alexander Isak? Age, Height, Family, Nationality, Roots
“From Newcastle’s point of view they simply cannot let him go,” he added. “I hear what you’re saying about the balancing of the books and leaving them in credit with the financial rules but so what?
“You prefer Isak, he’s the one who is going to bounce you into that elite level. You need special players, look at Liverpool this year, they’ve got the best centre-half, one of the best attackers in Mo Salah.
“They’ve got the best goalkeeper, you have to have the very elite players to compete. He is one you’ve just got to build your team around, they’ve already got a really strong midfield and with Isak up front you’ve got half a chance.”
Michael Owen agrees with Alan Shearer on Alexander Isak
Owen’s relationship with Newcastle legend Alan Shearer is frosty – they will both admit that.
Shearer played alongside Owen for Newcastle and England in what many would consider a dream partnership. However, that was never the case.
Newcastle’s top scorer has previously gone on record to share how much he loves Isak. He was even caught on camera at Wembley going crazy when the Swede bagged what ended up being the winning goal in the Carabao Cup final.
Alexander Isak 2024/25 Newcastle United Statistics
Appearances (All competitions) 33
Goals 23
Assists 5
Shearer is certain Newcastle will not sell Isak and has questioned why Howe or sporting director Paul Mitchell would even consider letting him go.
The sale of their star striker seems even more unlikely after it was revealed that Yasir Al-Rumayyan told Newcastle not to sell Isak following his cup-final heroics. The Swede himself has big aspirations at the club, the historic win at Wembley could only be the tip of the iceberg.