Agents slam Alexander Isak £130m Liverpool transfer & Newcastle United Yoane Wissa deal as 'worst' signings
Alexander Isak’s £130million transfer from Newcastle United to Liverpool has been labelled as the ‘worst’ of the summer, according to one football agent.
Liverpool’s Premier League record £130million signing of Alexander Isak has been slammed after the striker forced a move away from Newcastle United.
Isak refused to train or play for Newcastle in a bid to force through a move to Liverpool, which eventually came to fruition on deadline day.
But at that point, the Swedish striker hadn’t played or trained properly since May, leading to a slow start to life at Liverpool.
Six games in to his Liverpool career, Isak has scored one Carabao Cup goal against Southampton and is yet to find the net in the Premier League or Champions League so far.
It comes after Isak scored 62 goals in 109 games for Newcastle, including 27 and 25 goals in each of the last two seasons.
The Gazette has launched a new WhatsApp NUFC channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates directly to your phone. Simply click this link to join our NUFC WhatsApp channel.
Agent slams Alexander Isak transfer
As part of The Athletic’s agent survey, one agent hit out at Isak’s conduct and the record price Liverpool paid for him.
Naming the move as the ‘worst’ transfer of the summer, the unnamed agent said: “Because of what Liverpool paid for him, but also in terms of the culture of the football club.
“Eddie Howe, the Newcastle manager, is a good human being and handled that with as much dignity as he could. For me, [the way Isak behaved] goes away from Liverpool's core principles — it's always been about the club, not an individual, at Liverpool.”
Football is BACK - subscribe to our Newcastle United newsletter for all the news straight to your inbox
Newcastle United & Manchester United transfers also called out
Isak’s move wasn’t the only summer transfer to come under scrutiny from agents with Manchester United’s transfer of Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig, a player Newcastle had also targeted, leading the way in the survey as the ‘worst’ signing of the summer.
Another Magpies target in James Trafford, was named the second-worst signing of the summer after joining Manchester City from Burnley before the arrival of Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Newcastle United’s £55million signing of Yoane Wissa was also named by one agent as the worst signing of the summer.
Another unnamed agent commented on Wissa: “A lot of money for a 29-year-old who was way down the preference list”
Newcastle pushed to sign Wissa from Brentford since mid-July and ended up paying around £30million more than their initial £26million bid in the final minutes of deadline day.
The Magpies are yet to see any return on their investment so far with Wissa still waiting to make his debut for the club. Shortly after his arrivial, Wissa suffered a knee injury on international duty with DR Congo which has prevented him from playing or training with Newcastle.
The injury is set to sideline the forward until early November. Once he returns to fitness, Wissa is expected to join up with the DR Congo squad once again for the African Cup of Nations which could rule him out of action for at least another month.
Wissa’s transfer was not dissimilar to Isak’s in the fact that both deals happened on deadline day and came about after the player in question refused to play for their club in an effort to force a move. While both players got what they wanted, they are yet to make an impact since securing their respective moves.