The Alexander Isak cold war at Newcastle United has turned hot with the striker going nuclear on social media.
Isak has turned against Newcastle, the club’s supporters have turned against him, all while Eddie Howe is trying his best to deal with the chaos.
The situation has played out in the media over the past month with Isak refusing to play and not training with his teammates at Newcastle amid transfer interest from Liverpool.
Now the striker has dropped a bombshell by breaking his silence on the situation with a public statement.
Alexander Isak issues statement
Isak’s statement, issued via his official Instagram page, spoke of broken promises, misleading narratives and lost trust at Newcastle.
It concluded by stating that a change is in everyone’s best interests.
It comes less than a week before Newcastle host Liverpool at St James’ Park without an established striker and less than a fortnight before the summer transfer window closes.
The situation is getting desperate. In a month, the ice-cold Isak Newcastle fans knew and loved has melted to a tepid pool of insolence with things not going his way.
Isak has every right to be frustrated. He’s a player who has been told by his teammates, manager, and the media that he is one of the best strikers in the world, so why is his weekly wage significantly more comparable to Matt Targett’s than it is to Erling Haaland’s?
It doesn’t make sense, but the answer is simple. The contract he and his agent agreed with Newcastle back in 2022, which runs until 2028.
When Isak joined Newcastle, he signed a legally binding document to play for the club for a certain period of time for a certain amount of money.
The only promise officially broken by anyone is Isak refusing to play for a club that he agreed to play for another three years. Everything else is just Isak’s word against Newcastle’s.
Nothing in the player’s contract allows them to down tools and throw a strop. As a result, Isak will be fined by the club for breaching the terms of his deal.
Newcastle certainly could have handled the situation better, but it’s not the club’s fault that Isak’s representatives didn’t insist on a release clause, shorter contract length or a way to improve the player’s salary when they signed the deal back in 2022.
Don’t forget that this is a player yet to submit a formal transfer request to leave Newcastle.
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Trust is broken at NUFC
Newcastle’s actions, or lack of them, have broken Isak’s trust over the past year or so. Former co-owner Amanda Staveley promised a new contract, she then left and new sporting director Paul Mitchell would not entertain a new deal for the striker amid PSR pressure.
Mitchell has since left the club, meaning the lack of trust Isak claims to have stems from the actions of two former employees he no longer deals with.
It’s his actions over the past month that have broken the trust of his teammates, coaches and Newcastle supporters more than any alleged false promises behind the scenes.
Isak’s statement and behaviour disregard what Howe and his players have built at Newcastle over the past four years - a unified group that has gone from the foot of the Premier League to the Champions League with a Carabao Cup win to boot.
Newcastle's most valuable player coming out and publicly criticising the club’s conduct may have a knock-on impact on top-level players wanting to join the club.
It’s potentially damaging for Newcastle, but it comes across as another desperate roll of the dice by Isak, with time working against him and the chances of it landing on a British record move to Liverpool growing slimmer by the day. The statement merely confirms Isak’s stance from an official source, rather than letting it play out in the media.
Does it change much? Well, Newcastle are now insisting Isak will indeed stay at the club in a strong response.
Alexander Isak’s stance causes confusion
While many behind the scenes at Newcastle have been aware of Isak’s feelings and frustrations, his conduct this summer has blindsided the club.
While Isak’s claims of broken promises could go some way to explaining his performances at the back end of the 2024/25 season, his actions have not been consistent with a player who had made his intentions clear to the club.
If Newcastle are truly as decitful as Isak has made out in his statement, why did he speak to Anthony Elanga about joining the club and send heart messages to his compatriot on Instagram when his arrival was announced? If you’ve experienced such a betrayal, surely you’d tell one of your friends to run a mile? Strange.
If Isak had been as transparent as he’s making out, why did he head to Austria with the first-team for pre-season training only to down tools upon his return? Why did he appear in the club’s new shirt adverts if he had no intention of playing in them?
Only once Liverpool’s interest became public did his attitude change.
It still took weeks for The Reds to make an official approach for the striker with a £110million lowball bid that was promptly rejected by Newcastle.
All parties have made missteps as far as the situation is concerned. Newcastle for their initial handling of Isak and his contract, Liverpool for bidding low, unsettling the player and signing a potential Newcastle replacement for Isak in Hugo Ekitike, and Isak himself for throwing a generational strop after not getting what he wanted.
The striker’s latest move looks to have majorly backfired with Newcastle’s response being that he won’t be leaving in another big move in the player v club power dynamic.
Ironically, had Isak come out at the start of the summer and been transparent and respectful with his intent to leave the club, explore new opportunities at a club looking to win Premier League titles and the Champions League, there would have been some frustration but you’d understand his reasoning.
To double your salary and move to one of the biggest clubs in the world is a natural progression for any world class footballer.
“I’ve loved my time at Newcastle, delighted to help the club win a trophy and qualify for the Champions League, but now is the right time to leave.”
He may well have got his wish and, it would have been hard to stomach initially but it’s certainly a more palatable way of going about leaving a football club in hindsight.
Instead, Isak has publicly disrespected and let down the club, his manager and teammates who helped make him one of the best strikers in the world, only to attempt to justify his actions due to ‘broken promises’.
It’s a selfish, petulant stunt that shows that it’s not about Newcastle or even Liverpool, it’s all about Alexander Isak and money.
A way back for Alexander Isak?
Despite everything, Newcastle and Howe have still left the door open for Isak to return. If they’re going to come out strong and say he’s not for sale, it’s their only realistic option.
Isak won’t be returning to action any time soon but, when the alternative is training alone and not playing for at least the next four months, there’s a belief that he may reluctantly return to playing, but it will never be the same.
Newcastle’s best striker since Alan Shearer, the Carabao Cup hero, Alexander the Great has tarnished his legacy in less than a month to the point where he’s now known as that ‘one greedy -------.’
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