Alexander Isak’s genuine sentiments about Liverpool’s last signing, Hugo Ekitike, have been revealed. The Swedish international was the focus of the transfer window this summer, finally securing his British record transfer to Liverpool on deadline day after insisting for weeks that he would never play for Newcastle again.
At one point during the transfer window, it appeared that the Magpies would be happy to allow Isak depart once they had completed a deal for Frenchman Ekitike, only for Liverpool to come in and get the then Eintracht Frankfurt star instead. And now we know exactly how Isak handled the matter.
Isak’s Reaction on Liverpool Signing Ekitike
A report by The Athletic detailed the timelines of Ekitike’s move to Liverpool, as well as how Newcastle felt that the Reds’ attempts to land him while also in talks with Isak were nothing more than a power play, as they knew Newcastle was also interested in the striker and didn’t want to miss out on Isak.
Liverpool responded that Newcastle were late to the party in expressing their interest in the 23-year-old, with whom they had already been in contact since January and spoke again near the end of the 2024/25 season.
According to people who know Isak, his mood changed after learning that Ekitike was on his way to Merseyside. While he had already traveled to Austria for a training camp with Newcastle, Ekitike’s move coincided with him suffering a dubious’minor injury’ that kept him out of the pre-season tour of Asia, which could be seen as the moment, at least publicly, when the saga surrounding his future began.
As Isak doubled down on his wish to leave, publishing a public statement claiming that commitments had been violated after failing to attend the PFA awards event, Newcastle insisted that they would not be forced into selling one of their key players.
Behind the scenes, however, manager Eddie Howe, who had publicly stated that he wanted Isak to return to the squad, had began to realize that convincing Isak to stay was becoming increasingly difficult, and that forcing the striker to stay could eventually undermine Newcastle’s campaign. Speaking during a press conference, he admitted that the deadlock had become a “lose-lose situation” for the club, which would eventually cave in and replace the Swede with Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade.
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