'Seriously' - Newcastle United 'member' Toni Kroos' savage take on Alexander Isak's £130m Liverpool transfer
Former Germany and Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has had his say on Newcastle United’s sale of Alexander Isak.
German football icon Toni Kroos has offered a curt assessment of Alexander Isak’s Premier League record transfer from Newcastle United to Liveprool.
The transfer saga of the summer concluded on deadline day with a £130million move for Isak to join Liverpool after three years at Newcastle.
The 25-year-old Swede joined Newcastle from Real Sociedad for £63million back in 2022 and went on to score 62 goals in 109 appearances for the club - though his goals were not mentioned in The Magpies’ club statement confirming his departure.
Isak’s move came after he went on strike and refused to play for Newcastle in a bid to force through a move to Liverpool which ultimately proved successful.
The transfer saga involving Isak, Liverpool and Newcastle added more drama to the clash between the two clubs at St James’ Park last month.
The football world was watching as Newcastle came from 2-0 down with 10 men to level up at 2-2 only for teenage forward Rio Ngumoha to score a 100th minute winner for Liverpool.
Reflecting on the match on his podcast, Kroos spoke enthusiastically about Newcastle and declared his intent to become a club member.
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"Newcastle vs Liverpool, just to say that again briefly for the few people here who haven't seen it, we're talking about that right now," said the five-time Champions League winner. "I'm going to sign up as a Newcastle member today. [It was not] just the atmosphere, but also the team.
“You can do that in Germany [become a member] too, right? Is it different there? I don't know how it is, but if it's possible, please do it.
“They completely captivated me. I read a quote from Jamie Carragher, and I often disagree, but I have to say, he said that ‘it was one of the worst performances in history from a winning team, and one of the best performances in history from a losing team’. I agree with that.
"They're playing really well and, out of nowhere, as often happens against such favourites, they go 0-1 down. Boom. They get a red card. You come out [in the second half], 15 seconds, down 0-2.
"You're playing against the champions, the best team in England, trailing 0-2 and one man down. And what happened in the 45th, no, 55th minutes, was insane.
"I've rarely seen a team stay so active with 10 men, even at the risk of conceding six, seven, or eight at the end when you're somehow open. And then in the second half, not sitting back and saying, ‘Please not the third, please not the fourth’ and somehow making it 2-2. You think you've seen everything in football. But it's really incredibly rare that you, an underdog team against the favourites, play like that."
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Toni Kroos comments on Alexander Isak transfer
Following Isak’s departure from Newcastle, Kroos commented on the transfer on his podcast with a blunt assessment.
"Isak joining Liverpool for a lot of money?” Kross said. “I trust our listeners, but I would tell you that, more or less, half have never heard of Isak. Judge for yourself. Seriously.”
Isak previously played for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga but was limited to just five league appearances as a youngster before moving to Real Sociedad.
While Isak was a success at Sociedad and has since increased his reputation with Newcastle in the Premier League, his impact on the international stage in tournaments with Sweden or in the Champions League has been limited.