Alexander Isak and Newcastle United : A tale of two statements | OneFootball

Tuesday night saw the latest developments in the ongoing summer saga surrounding the transfer status of Alexander Isak.

A pair of contrasting statements, one from the player and then the football club responding with one of their own.

The first revelation came in the form of a statement on Isak’s social media channels, which was released to coincide with that evenings PFA awards. More of a look at the exact content of that Alexander Isak statement in just a moment, but the timing of the release felt very deliberate, in terms of how it coincided with that evening’s event.

Later that evening, Newcastle United released their own statement in response to that from their star striker. It was very carefully worded, yet very clear, and the club have no intention at this moment in time of letting the Swede leave the club. As with Isak’s statement there is some careful choice of wording that needs to be looked at, but it felt like a very strong response from the club, to what was a very difficult situation.

Let’s start with the event that instigated all of the discourse on Tuesday evening, the statement from Alexander Isak.

The pre-prepared statement that Isak released on his Instagram account certainly generated a lot of talk last night. There was widespread condemnation from assorted pundits on Sky Sports coverage of the FL in response to the statement, but the reporting overall suggested that the statement made it clear that there was no way forward for Isak at the club. There was also widespread anger and disappointment from Newcastle fans. The narrative bubbling behind the scenes for some has been clear, Isak wants to leave the club. However, to finally see this intention confirmed by the player, left a bitter taste to all who revered the striker following our Carabao cup triumph.

While it is undeniable that the intention of the statement from Alexander Isak is to signal his desire to leave, the exact content of the statement does have a little more nuance to it. The statement itself begins with a rote thank you to his peers and his teammates for being recognised in the PFA team of the season.

The middle section builds suspense around why he isn’t at the award ceremony and suggests people have been perpetuating a version of events that is untrue and that “promises” have been broken. Exactly who these people and what these promises are, remains to be seen, as up to this point, the only voice from a Newcastle United perspective has been Eddie Howe and he has always been very diplomatic in his responses when asked about Isak.

Then the final section delivers the bombshell, I’ve copied this part exactly, as this is where all the talking points really lie:

On the surface here it seems very clear, Isak feels like his expectations haven’t been met and as such he thinks it’s best for him to leave the club. I completely agree that the surface level interpretation of the statement is accurate and signals a desire from Alexander Isak to engineer a move away from Newcastle.

There are two key words in this statement however, that to this point I have seen overlooked by everyone’s analysis, these words are; “right now.”

Including this phrase puts a qualification around the sentiment that Isak has expressed. Just because he feels a particular way “right now”, it doesn’t mean that is how he has felt previously, or even how he will feel moving forward.

In the interviews I have seen with Alexander Isak over the past few years, he has always spoken very carefully when asked about his ambitions and intentions for his career. I think by including these words in his statement he is doing the same thing here. I’m not refuting the notion that the Swedish striker is trying to engineer a move away from the club, however, a door has left been left ajar, for the club to repair this situation and allow Isak to continue his career in black and white. This notion is something that is also present in the club statement, although I feel this statement is also very careful in its wording, putting a lot of the blame for the situation back at the striker’s feet.

For most of this transfer saga, the Newcastle based journalists have maintained the narrative that Newcastle United do not want to sell Alexander Isak and would only consider doing so if the correct transfer fee is offered and Newcastle were able to replace the holes left in the squad by the departure of both Callum Wilson and the Swede. The club statement last night seems to back this up. It certainly doesn’t suggest that we ever considered the striker as “not for sale” and goes as far as recognising that players have their own wishes. It does however outline that there are clear conditions for sale, and that the club do not foresee these being met.

The last part of this sentence is very important, as it would seem to confirm that even if a club such as Liverpool were to offer £150 million to Newcastle, if the club could not secure suitable replacements, then even this offer would be rejected.

The final part after club statement reiterates the sentiment that Eddie Howe has put forward for several weeks, highlighting that they see Isak as a part of the club and that he will be welcome back once he adopts the correct attitude.

Based on last night’s statement from the club I would tend to agree with many of the Newcastle focused journalists in that I can’t see a scenario where Isak is able to depart the club this summer.

Working on the assumption that Newcastle will be able to bring in a sole replacement for Callum Wilson, then whoever that striker is, they will likely see themselves as the only eligible choice to start up front for Newcastle in the short term.

Once Champions League games get underway in September the need to have a second striker will become increasingly important and it is at this stage that I would expect to see bridges beginning to be mended between Alexander Isak and the club.

What will be interesting to view is how the relationship between the Swedish striker and the Newcastle United fans, who he has so clearly upset this summer, is repaired.

How many Newcastle United fans see a potential way back for Alexander Isak at the club, if he is still here after the window closes?

Judging by comments from NUFC fans online, most are either too upset with him or with Liverpool to entertain the idea of the Swede stepping back into the starting line up.

I completely understand the upset and outrage at how this has all played out, however, I also think it is short-sighted to not afford people a second chance when they have clearly made a mistake. I think that there is every chance that if Isak is still at the club once Newcastle United start playing Champions League matches, he will be able to work with Eddie Howe to determine a strategy to enable his return.

Isak’s legacy will be forever tainted by his conduct this summer and his future beyond the short term remains massively uncertain, but to unilaterally block the return of one of the world’s best players to your starting line up would be cutting your nose off to spite your face.

There may yet be further twists and turns left in this transfer saga over the next 12 days or so, but if Alexander Isak is still a Newcastle player come September 2nd, we all need to find a way to move past what has occurred. This whole saga has been a dark shadow over what should have been a very exciting summer.

To end on a little bit of optimism, I think it has been overlooked how well Newcastle’s transfer business is beginning to shape up. It has been a much slower process than all of us would have liked, but we have been able to fill all but one of the positions of need that we had heading into the summer and I can’t see the transfer window ending without us signing at least one striker.