Alexander Isak - International C*nt

[Barnes23]

6 minutes ago, Menace said:

I agree with SP - what's the point in him being around? There is absolutely no guarantee clubs will bid the same amount next year (if they even bid this year). He's handled this like a complete idiot, so let him go.

 

The point is that he's our player and we let him leave when it is in our best interest. 

 

Even if the price drops there's very little chance his value plummets barring injury. He won't refuse to play for a year nor will we banish him imo

[r0cafella]

Just now, Menace said:

Even if they cover his wages?

If your talking about a loan, then I'm not sure but it would be assessed for fair market value and we will likely have a PSR adjustment of 100% of his daft wages assigned to us. 

 

It's just not feasible. 

[gdm]

1 minute ago, Shadow Puppets said:

I already told you who. Sesko + Wissa, or Wissa and another £30m-£40m signing as stop gaps until we can get out shit together.

I wasn’t asking you but as you’ve answered We probably won’t get Sesko so your big plan is sell our best player to a rival and then significantly weaken ourself by signing a stop game. Isak scored 60% of our goals last season. You are basically suggesting we sack off next season ‘until we get our shit together’

 

also doesn’t send a great message to rest of squad - just go on strike and we’ll sell you no problem 

[Groundhog63]

11 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

The biggest non negotiable for me is not selling until we have a replacement through the door. We are a joke if not, and will make us look even worse than we currently do.

 

[Nucasol]

7 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

It's all realistic, but again it depends on us having a backbone. If we are willing to get dog walked by Liverpool and the player then absolutely. 

 

We hold all of the cards and do for another 3 years, your suggestions involving folding them, mine assert our control over the situation and let the world know we aren't a wee club in the north east

Sets a precedent that Gordon will probably follow the next season if we’re weak as water with this one.

[Shadow Puppets]

2 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

Don’t see why it’s fanciful tbh, we literally have all the control in this situation imo.

Maybe I’m being defeatist, but I think anyone who thinks we hold all the cards here are completely delusional. The player / his agent want to move, specifically to Liverpool. Players and their agents, 9/10, get their way. 
 

The absolute best we can hope for is that we somehow manage to negotiate £150m+, but I think that’s massively unlikely, or tie him down to a massive new contract and go through the whole thing again next year.

 

It will be Liverpool. I have zero doubts about that. They’re cunts, to us, I get it. But to players who want to make it to the very top, they’re an elite club.

[oldtype]

Once he realizes he’s not getting his wish this summer he’ll play and score goals. Maybe the unhappiness will prevent him from being at 100% peak performance but he’ll be good enough. He knows the best way to guarantee a move to a bigger club next year is to continue playing well.

[McCormick]

This is all rather exhausting.

 

Let’s be real though, he’s absolutely shafted us. If you wanted to leave so badly, you should have told us way earlier so we could have gone harder and offered more wages to the players we missed out on. For example do you think Delap (who I prefer to Sesko, given the prices involved) would have opted for Chelsea if we offered him Isak wages, the number 9 and being our no 1 striker? I mean, possibly but it’s less likely. 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2025 by McCormick

[Palestoon]

With all due respect, fuck this small time mentality of "he's unhappy so we have to let him go" no we don't. 

 

If we want to compete at the highest level, we need to get used to big clubs wanting our players. Capitulating at the first sign of pressure sets an unacceptable precedent. 

 

Isak is not going to sit out a season. When has a player in their prime ever done that before? If he really wants a move to one of the elites, he knows he needs to keep his levels up. He scored 6 goals for Sociadad before we bought him for 70 mil. Even if he has a sub par season, someone will still pay 100 mil for him easily. 

 

He doesn't want to be here long term? Fine. Playing another season for this great club isn't a favor, it's a privilege. Then in early June, he can fuck off, and hopefully we'll have a CEO and director of football who've planned for the inevitability.

 

Selling him now is writing off the season. Even if this board shocks us and signs replacements, the chance that they are as effective as Isak or don't take months to get acclimated are close to zero. 

 

We don't need to sell and we shouldn't under these circumstances. Should be end of discussion 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2025 by Palestoon

[OpenC]

Been said hundreds of billions of times already but if we let him go it's demonstrating that we're happy to continue just making up the numbers. It's not about Isak at this point per se, it's about what sort of club we want to be and how we want to portray ourselves. Clubs with ambitions to be number one don't sell their best players to their rivals because there's a bit of pressure from the media and the player. Doesn't look like we could spend any money we get for him on anybody we couldn't have gone for anyway.

 

What happens here is a great marker of our actual long term ambition and strategy. Interesting times. I would be fucking delighted if they just said no he's not going and benched or dropped him if he goes in the huff about it.

 

 

Edited July 29, 2025 by OpenC

[r0cafella]

Isak and the scouse are banking on us being piss weak because the position they have is extremely weak. 

 

1 Liverpool, this whole rouse has done about because Liverpool are unwilling/unable to pay his actual worth so we've reached a situation whereby they have 2 options. Pay what we want or walk. Them being special they took the third option which is so what real Madrid did to them with Trent and little bro us, planting stories in the media and blatantly making overtures towards our play. 

 

2 for Isaks part hes also in a Jam, he's got 3 years remaining with no get out, can he feasible go on strike for the season? I mean he can but it will ruin his reputation and make him look as unprofessional as can be imagined. And even then he'd still have 2 years left. Imo he will be left with little option but to play if we hold firm. 

[Shadow Puppets]

3 minutes ago, gdm said:

I wasn’t asking you but as you’ve answered We probably won’t get Sesko so your big plan is sell our best player to a rival and then significantly weaken ourself by signing a stop game. Isak scored 60% of our goals last season. You are basically suggesting we sack off next season ‘until we get our shit together’

 

also doesn’t send a great message to rest of squad - just go on strike and we’ll sell you no problem 

Agreed on what message it sends, but I don’t agree that singing Wissa and another player of similar quality would significantly weaken us, especially if said player has a good fitness record. 
 

Isak is a great player, no doubt, but having two “good” players instead of one great player is not significantly weakening us, in my opinion. It’s certainly not “writing off the season”.

[ohmelads]

16 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

We’ll have to agree to disagree on Elliott. I like him.

 

“Rotting in the reserves” is about the worst possible outcome to all of this. We don’t have a player and we don’t have any money, and probably a team morale issue in the background to contend with.

 

As far as I’m concerned, he wants to go, and someone is likely going to offer £135m for him. A few hypotheticals to throw out there…

 

1) we turn down a big offer, he signs a new contract, he reintegrates with the squad, bangs in 20 goals… we’ll still go through the whole charade again next summer.

 

2) we turn down a big offer, he sits in the reserves. No money, no player. Pointless and damaging to morale.

 

3) we turn down a big offer, he gets an injury or a loss of form / his hearts not in it. We go through all of this next summer but with less money involved.

 

4) we sell him now for £135m+, and reinvest in the squad. Even if we don’t replace him with a “big name” immediately, we could feasibly build out the squad substantially.

 

5) we sell him now for £135m+, replace him with Sesko and replace Wilson with Wissa, and move on.

 

Options 4 and 5 are, to me, the most appealing. This whole charade has burnt too many bridges.

 

Ideally I wouldn’t want it to be Liverpool, but it’s going to be, so I’m not really sure what the point in arguing about it is.

 

 

 

4 and 5 will have serious repercussions unless the money is silly. Doing that sends a clear message out to other Premier League clubs that this is how you take our best players when you want for the price you want. It tells current players that this is how you get a move whenever you want and there's little risk in downing tools.

 

Everyone's waiting to see what we do, and our response to it will set the tone for what's ahead in coming windows. We need the market, clubs and players, to see us as tough sellers and serious about growing. You don't achieve that by rewarding a player who throws his toys and rewarding a cartel from the same league that uses media friends aggressively to unsettle players. I wouldn't sell to Liverpool at any price for the underhanded way they've dealt with it.

[gdm]

4 minutes ago, Palestoon said:

With all do respect, fuck this small time mentality of "he's unhappy so we have to let him go" no we don't. 

Yup. Sign Sesko and make Isak fight for his place. We’ll still get a good whack next summer 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2025 by gdm

[Shadow Puppets]

2 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

Isak and the scouse are banking on us being piss weak because the position they have is extremely weak. 

 

1 Liverpool, this whole rouse has done about because Liverpool are unwilling/unable to pay his actual worth so we've reached a situation whereby they have 2 options. Pay what we want or walk. Them being special they took the third option which is so what real Madrid did to them with Trent and little bro us, planting stories in the media and blatantly making overtures towards our play. 

 

2 for Isaks part hes also in a Jam, he's got 3 years remaining with no get out, can he feasible go on strike for the season? I mean he can but it will ruin his reputation and make him look as unprofessional as can be imagined. And even then he'd still have 2 years left. Imo he will be left with little option but to play if we hold firm. 

I just don’t understand why we’d want to keep a player who has been “left with little option but to play”. I don’t really see who’s gaining?

 

I understand that how we handle it could make us look weak or strong, but to have an unhappy player hanging around for a year, with another year or speculation, media bullshit, overtures, and disruption… isn’t it better to just move on?

 

I dunno… I can see both sides… I would just like to think we reward players and build a team that actually want to play for us. Having a star player whose heart’s

not really in it would be shit, to me.

[Shadow Puppets]

5 minutes ago, gdm said:

Yup. Sign Sesko and make Isak fight for his place. We’ll still get a good whack next summer 

 

 

 

There’s zero chance we sign Sesko and keep Isak. If the Sesko deal progresses it’s proof that Isak is going.

[r0cafella]

Just now, Shadow Puppets said:

I just don’t understand why we’d want to keep a player who has been “left with little option but to play”. I don’t really see who’s gaining?

 

I understand that how we handle it could make us look weak or strong, but to have an unhappy player hanging around for a year, with another year or speculation, media bullshit, overtures, and disruption… isn’t it better to just move on?

 

I dunno… I can see both sides… I would just like to think we reward players and build a team that actually want to play for us. Having a star player whose heart’s

not really in it would be shit, to me.

We have to send a message, we can't allow other clubs to treat us like we are also rans. 

We can't provide a blueprint on how you get Newcastle's star players on the cheap to the other cartel clubs. 

We have to send a message to our players that if they want to leave, it has to be done in the correct professional way whereby everyone can win. 

We have to demonstrate to our fans that we are serious club who were being sincere when the fans were told about the clubs ambitions, no more talking actions. 

And finally we can't just roll over because a player is unhappy, so what get on with it. Tell you shitty agent to present us something acceptable or jog the fuck on. 

[Shadow Puppets]

6 minutes ago, ohmelads said:

 

4 and 5 will have serious repercussions unless the money is silly. Doing that sends a clear message out to other Premier League clubs that this is how you take our best players when you want for the price you want. It tells current players that this is how you get a move whenever you want and there's little risk in downing tools.

 

Everyone's waiting to see what we do, and our response to it will set the tone for what's ahead in coming windows. We need the market, clubs and players, to see us as tough sellers and serious about growing. You don't achieve that by rewarding a player who throws his toys and rewarding a cartel from the same league that uses media friends aggressively to unsettle players. I wouldn't sell to Liverpool at any price for the underhanded way they've dealt with it.

Good post… but I’m just struggling to think of any situation where a player has downed tools, then stayed at his club, and everything to have been fine afterwards. It might make us look strong to the football world, but does it actually help the team? I dunno 🤷‍♂️ 

[alexf]

Can't go along with those saying "rather just get rid and move on" it's such a defeatist weak mentality. As we have mentioned in this thread before, there is plenty of precedent of players staying after going scorched earth to try and leave. Suarez, Ronaldo, Tevez etc. it can be done and absolutely should be done if the circumstances don't suit the club, i.e. no replacement signed, bid doesn't match valuation. 

 

If he's the top player he claims to be like those above that I mentioned, then he will still give his all on the pitch when asked to play. 

 

Knew a % of our fans would wilt under pressure as soon as it was hinted he wants to move  ofcourse he wants to move, we are not one of the elite teams yet and he has developed into an elite player 

[jack j]

If i had any faith in us signing the 4 or 5 players (2 strikers) we need then i would be totally over the spoilt prick. We wont though so it's even more sickening

[Shadow Puppets]

2 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

We have to send a message, we can't allow other clubs to treat us like we are also rans. 

We can't provide a blueprint on how you get Newcastle's star players on the cheap to the other cartel clubs. 

We have to send a message to our players that if they want to leave, it has to be done in the correct professional way whereby everyone can win. 

We have to demonstrate to our fans that we are serious club who were being sincere when the fans were told about the clubs ambitions, no more talking actions. 

And finally we can't just roll over because a player is unhappy, so what get on with it. Tell you shitty agent to present us something acceptable or jog the fuck on. 

Fair. What do you deem a fair price?

[r0cafella]

Just now, Shadow Puppets said:

Fair. What do you deem a fair price?

The price depends on a lot of factors. 

 

This window to Liverpool, for me is impossible. 

 

This window to someone else in the PL 150m

 

This window abroad 135-140m 

[gdm]

6 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

There’s zero chance we sign Sesko and keep Isak. If the Sesko deal progresses it’s proof that Isak is going.

I don’t think it will so it’s a moot point. Man Utd will sign up. I’m just saying that’s my best scenario. Isak should be told to fuck up and sit on the bench for a while after how he’s behaved. 

[Shadow Puppets]

1 minute ago, alexf said:

Can't go along with those saying "rather just get rid and move on" it's such a defeatist weak mentality. As we have mentioned in this thread before, there is plenty of precedent of players staying after going scorched earth to try and leave. Suarez, Ronaldo, Tevez etc. it can be done and absolutely should be done if the circumstances don't suit the club, i.e. no replacement signed, bid doesn't match valuation. 

 

If he's the top player he claims to be like those above that I mentioned, then he will still give his all on the pitch when asked to play. 

 

Knew a % of our fans would wilt under pressure as soon as it was hinted he wants to move  ofcourse he wants to move, we are not one of the elite teams yet and he has developed into an elite player 

I don’t think it’s “weak mentality”. It’s trying to think about what is best for the TEAM. I don’t see any scenario with him staying that ends particularly well for the team.

 

I would rather we get an acceptable fee (we’ll have to debate what that figure is, because I do think £135m is fine, personally), and build on our squad of players who actually want to be here. 
 

Our success over the last few years has been down to Eddie and his knack of fostering an elite team spirit and mentality, even if only a handful of the players are actually elite. I’d hate for this whole situation to disrupt that when we can go on an build further.

[alexf]

3 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

I don’t think it’s “weak mentality”. It’s trying to think about what is best for the TEAM. I don’t see any scenario with him staying that ends particularly well for the team.

 

I would rather we get an acceptable fee (we’ll have to debate what that figure is, because I do think £135m is fine, personally), and build on our squad of players who actually want to be here. 
 

Our success over the last few years has been down to Eddie and his knack of fostering an elite team spirit and mentality, even if only a handful of the players are actually elite. I’d hate for this whole situation to disrupt that when we can go on an build further.

Best for the team is keeping our best players and not going into a season with champions league football with only Will Osula as a recognised striker.

 

There is no evidence we are going to be able to secure the players we need to offset his loss. 

 

So yes even an unhappy Isak in our squad is better than no one. 

 

We work out a compromise give him our blessing he can move next summer with hopefully more suitors and bidders to drive the price up and we spend the next 12 months scouting and negotiating for his replacement rather than desperately bidding in the next few weeks for over priced average players that we probably haven't scouted as deeply as Howe would want.