Adam P

I am catching up mate but why do you think Isak has refused to travel? It will have been Eddie’s decision.

Further evidence for my crackpot theory.

I’d rather have Isak than Ekitike and so would Liverpool.

Liverpool wanted Isak or Ekitike. Their top two targets. Newcastle’s number one priority is to keep Isak. Newcastle bid just under the release clause for Ekitike. Liverpool move very quickly make a lot of noise via the media that they are going to buy both and then buy Ekitike. If the story finishes with Isak starting up front for us next season, I don’t know why people would think we used Barella to buy Tonali but won’t entertain the idea the idea that Ekitike was used to smoke out Liverpool and help us achieve what is surely our number one priority. Instead of buying Isak they buy Ekitike. In my world we don’t look like we were pushed around but knew what we were doing. That might be the answer to my question of course 😆

I have no idea, I assume my colleague has rose tinted specs on his ex players but he's a knowledgeable fan. Rated him highly and not the type to be on the wind up.

Bit irrelevant to the discussion but i was speaking with a colleague who is a Union Saint-Gilloise fan yesterday, said Sadiki was highly rated and one of their best players.

I know. It was the Liverpool power play story that really wound me up. I just wanted to flesh out the alternative narrative as we don’t know either way what happened. The idea that we bid for him knowing that Liverpool were interested in him and Isak reverses that Liverpool narrative. We moved first, they reacted. Understanding the reality behind the Isak/Ekitike story should be of enough interest for fans. Anyway nice to connect with you again Ian. Been a long time. I remember when you were a teenager. 😁

270k?? Our interest was fake. There was no way in the world the agent agreed terms with us (125-150k?) when he knew that Liverpool were in the market at 270k. Terms were never agreed, the player was not interested and our bid was a tactic to get the Isak speculation put to bed early. No way we wanted that hanging over us until the end of the window. Or maybe we did want him. Definitely one of the two.

Is Baron Transfer Window the name of Isak's agent?

I agree.

We knew Liverpool were interested though and we were the ones who moved first. The hole is we knew Liverpool would come in and we didnt compete with them. Its a small hole and doesnt prove anything. As said, if we sell Isak to Liverpool, this is just cope. If we keep him, feels more likely. Now Liverpool have bought Ekitike, do you think the chances of us keeping Isak have gone up, down or not changed?

For the sum total of 24 hours wasn’t it? We pulled out on the Monday. Wasn’t very persistent. For it to make sense for me, we were bidding not knowing Liverpool were also interested and then surprised they were, we immediately withdrew. the theory has holes in it 😁

I said it was cope if Isak goes. Answer the question though and try and make it make sense.

Debase myself? Areet weirdo. What sort of terms do you think we agreed with him?

You use this forum and ask whether there are made up lies in the transfer market ?

It’s definitely cope if Liverpool sign Isak. If they don’t then you would have to say them signing Ekitike changed that. Then it becomes pure luck and coincidence that our interest in Ekitike kept Isak at the club. It’s an alternative narrative for the bed wetting ‘we don’t know what we are doing’ crew.

It’s May 2025, the number one priority for the club is keep Isak. What’s your strategy? Pay him more money? That falls apart quite quickly when your competitor can pay more. No one flew to Frankfurt and you have no idea who we met.

So you think we genuinely wanted to sign him on 200k plus a week for over 70m? Doesn’t feel realistic to me. Liverpool didn’t suddenly ‘get involved’, their interest was known before we bid. Is it just coincidence that they sign him and not Isak?

We werent in for him. We were meant to have agreed personal terms before we bid. His agent would have told us roughly that figure. Doesnt make any sense.

It remains a high probability too.

No conspiracy implied. Good tactics. If you want to keep Isak, make the club with the highest interest in go for their second target. Simple way to do this is a. say Isak is never being sold and b. make a bid for their second target. There is logic and cope in what i say.

Possibly. You think we didnt know Liverpool had targeted him? I think we 100% knew he was their second target after Isak. In game theory applications of negotiations on large multi-million pound deals, telling Liverpool Isak is not for sale and getting them to move for their second target does two things: it decreases the chances of Liverpool signing Isak and at the same time, reduces the negotiation power of Isak's agent.

We didnt try to sign him, we forced Liverpool to move. Imo.

The research doesnt focus on spatial intelligence, it reports memory, executive function and planning. Anyway, less well appreciated is that 50% of football fans are below average intelligence. Which makes sense of social media.