Liverpool’s chase of Newcastle striker Alexander Isak officially counts as a saga. Not so much because of Liverpool’s energy around the pursuit – while it’s clear the Reds’ braintrust highly rate Isak – but because the length of time coupled with the sheer amount of drama will ensure that however this concludes, no one will forget it. After all, you’ve got a player that has essentially been on strike since July when the possibility of this transfer emerged.
If it had ended there, the transfer would
already have been quite spicy. But in the intervening weeks, we’ve had skipped awards ceremonies, social media messages, and a supposed summit between the player and key decision-makers at the club. It’s been one piece of intrigue after the other, which has only fueled the interest.
And yet, there’s more twists to report as Eddie Howe had to answer questions of a rumored farewell event – or interaction? – between Alexander Isak and other Newcastle teammates. Apparently stemming from a report out of Sweden, Isak supposedly went to the Newcastle training ground to let his teammates know that he was leaving.
The thing is, though, Eddie How apparently had no clue about any of this.
“I have no knowledge of that, I can’t tell you it didn’t happen, but I certainly can’t tell you it did. That is the first I have heard of it. I am pretty sure I would have known.”
Suffice to say everything related to this transfer is basically chaos. Which, when on the team on the outside of it, is the true source of entertainment here.
And because of that, I’m almost a bit sad to know that the end of it all is so close. Come Monday, I will soon return to a world where “Isak” isn’t the most commonly recommended word whenever I fire up my browser. Nor will I have to think often about the machinations of Newcastle.
I will, in fact, miss it a bit. But that’s ok, we’ll always have this transfer.
