Alexander Isak is keen to leave Newcastle for Liverpool this summer, but Troy Deeney feels the striker has gone about the situation in the wrong way
12:55, 23 Aug 2025
Alexander Isak wants to join Liverpool in a British record transfer
Alexander Isak has been told to sabotage training(Image: Getty Images)
Former Premier League striker Troy Deeney has advised Alexander Isak that he's handled his attempts to engineer a move from Newcastle United to Liverpool in the wrong manner, suggesting the striker should have disrupted training sessions instead.
Isak has made his desire for a summer transfer abundantly clear after releasing a statement this week referencing 'broken promises' - claims that Newcastle have firmly rejected in their own response.
Liverpool had a £110 million offer knocked back by Newcastle earlier in the transfer window, with the Magpies valuing their star striker at a minimum of £150 million.
The forward has been training separately from the main squad since pre-season began and will be absent from Monday night's clash with Liverpool.
Discussing the saga, Deeney explained the approach he believes Isak should have adopted, drawing on his own successful experience of forcing through a transfer, reports Chronicle Live.
Alexander Isak during the Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and Everton FC at St James' Park.
Newcastle United and Alexander Isak have fallen out(Image: George Wood/Getty Images)
"How they should have played it is how I played it with my agent when I was pushing to move from Walsall to Watford back in the summer of 2010," he penned in his column for the Sun.
"In private, my agent said to me, 'You're going to have to kick up a fuss here. You're going back to training and you'll do all of the running, but as soon as a ball is involved, you're going to have to ruin sessions, you're going to have to kick balls away.
"But importantly, you can't let anyone on the outside know what's going on. It was really hard, you would go home feeling guilty, being a d*** in training for no reason, burning bridges for people you quite like.
Alexander Isak looks on
Liverpool have had a bid rejected for Alexander Isak this transfer window(Image: Serena Taylor, Newcastle United via Getty Images)
"But you've just got to remember who you're doing it for: yourself. That's how Isak will be feeling. This is a career-changing, career-defining move.
"You're going from Newcastle to one of the biggest clubs in world football in Liverpool, where you are probably going to win major titles. But Isak hasn't gone about it the smart way, and the agent's been quite lazy in that regard, making big mistakes.
"He's making his player look like he's a troublemaker because he's not getting it done.
Don't miss a thing with football updates!
Want to be on the ball with all of the latest football news? Well then sign up for the brilliant Daily Star Football email newsletter!
From the latest transfer news to breaking stories, get it all in your email inbox.
How do you sign up?
It only takes a matter of seconds.
Simply click on this link, then provide your email address and that's it, job done. You'll receive an email with all of the top football stories.
You can also sign up for our sport email, Off the Ball, for all the latest darts, boxing, snooker, F1 stories and more, right here
"He should have said to Isak straight away: 'Go into work, tick over, do all the runs, do all of that so you're fit, but as soon as the ball is introduced, claim your back hurts and you go inside.'
Article continues below
"If it was done like that, then the messaging is very different. Newcastle boss Eddie Howe can then go to the media and say, 'He is training but he's got a bit of an injury issue'. You can then let people speculate, but they can't deny that you're there.
"Now, I know these are very different circumstances in terms of the size of the clubs involved, but the principles still apply. You have to be smart in the way you go about stuff like this."