Pivotal moment for Newcastle United owners – Only one possible outcome | OneFootball

A massive decision for the Newcastle United owners.

A pivotal moment arriving just under four years after buying the club from Mike Ashley.

A decision to be made, but for me, only one possible outcome.

That question posed now for the Newcastle United owners – whether to sell Alexander Isak or not?

There is a case that can be made for selling the Sweden international.

This could very possibly be the point when Alexander Isak has his highest ever value in the transfer market.

He will turn 27 in September 2026 (just after the start of the 2026/27 season) and as things stand currently, there would then (summer 2026) be only two years left on his existing contract. Isak another year older and NUFC in a weaker position contract-wise, that is without taking into consideration all of those other human factors you have no control over, potential injury issues and/or loss of form and goals.

So if we were in the shoes of the Newcastle United owners, a new transfer record for a Premier League club, paid by Liverpool or whoever, isn’t something to be dismissed out of hand.

The last couple of years have seen United recover from a tough PSR position to a very healthy on currently, a sale of Alexander Isak would take that PSR situation to stellar levels, with so much scope for making a number of very attractive looking extra signings.

Whilst I think what I have said above makes a lot of sense for the Newcastle United owners, it also at the same time makes no sense at all.

There is only one answer to the Alexander Isak question, the Newcastle United owners can’t sell him at any price this summer.

Some Newcastle United fans have said in recent days, that having helped our club to finally win a trophy after 56 very long years, if Alexander Isak leaves now then he has done his job and good luck to him, we can all die happy now that we have finally seen silverware in our lifetimes.

Well, if winning the Carabao Cup is the very limit of your ambitions, it isn’t something I share AND it certainly isn’t how the Newcastle United owners see it.

Winning that long awaited trophy has to be the start of our Newcastle United story, not the final happy chapter.

It isn’t that I automatically expect United to now become successful serial trophy winners BUT that is what I hope will be the case.

Which means that at this moment in time, the Newcastle United owners can’t and won’t sell Alexander Isak at any price.

Put it this way, if Alexander Isak had been sold in summer 2024, as could potentially have been the case when the club desperately needed £50m+ additional revenues before 30 June 2024 to avoid breaking PSR, do you believe that Newcastle United would still have won a trophy and qualified for the Champions League?

If instead of selling Minteh and Anderson, a sale of Isak would have allowed Newcastle to get back within PSR limits by 30 June 2024 and then give them the cash and PSR freedom to buy a replacement, a Hugo Ekitike or similar.

You can never say for sure when it comes to these sliding doors moments, the what might have been, but I think on balance an Alexander Isak sale would for almost for sure have meant no Champions League qualification, nor any silverware. Put it this way, to win that trophy we saw Newcastle needing to win away at Forest, at home to Chelsea and Brentford, home and away against Arsenal, then against the runaway Premier League champions Liverpool on neutral ground. I just don’t think we would be sitting here now still relishing that moment of four months and a day ago at Wembley, if Alexander Isak hadn’t been part of it (Isak didn’t play against AFC Wimbledon).

Which brings me to now…

For me, that success of last season (both trophy and CL qualification) wouldn’t have happened without Alexander Isak and now he is just as (if not more) important to what happens in the 2025/26 season and just as importantly, beyond that.

If the Newcastle United owners are indeed serious about becoming ‘number one’, or indeed having any kind of ongoing success, this is the key moment.

Newcastle United aren’t in any shape or form a one-man team, but at the same time, Alexander Isak is the very most important player in that team. He is the focus of the team and indeed the focus of the opposition, as they fear his quality so much.

For the Newcastle United owners to continue building the club, finishing in a Champions League qualifying spot next season is just so important, arguably essential. If that happens, another Champions League qualification would far exceed in financial terms any profit Newcastle United would make on Alexander Isak (who cost £63m in August 2022) by selling him now, the same when it comes to the PSR state of play.

As for winning more silverware next season, keeping Alexander Isak also automatically makes that more of a possibility. The same with how far NUFC can get in the 2025/26 Champions League competition.

At this stage in the Newcastle United journey, Alexander Isak simply can’t be sold at this point.

If Newcastle United with Alexander Isak do go on to get Champions League qualification via the Premier League next season and potentially more silverware as well, I would be then far more relaxed if then in summer 2026 the Newcastle United owners did sell Isak.

It isn’t something that I would want to happen.