Both clubs have become worse off since the £125m mega transfer, with Eddie Howe admitting the deal has ‘changed the dynamics’ of his squad before the sides meet on Saturday night
Alexander Isak will, once again, be conspicuous by his absence. The last time the Swede took the field as Liverpool faced Newcastle United, he ended the game in a conversation with Virgil van Dijk that kept the amateur lip-readers busy. He also won Newcastle their first major trophy since the 1960s with a Carabao Cup final decider that should have guaranteed him heroic status for life on Tyneside.
It did not quite work out that way. Isak was the on-strike striker when Newcastle and Liverpool reconvened in August. The United director Jamie Reuben and representatives of the Saudi Public Investment Fund visited him on the day of their game, trying to persuade him to stay. Rio Ngumoha got a 100th-minute winner for Liverpool that night, Newcastle a £125m windfall the following Monday, Liverpool a British record buy.
Five months on, however, the biggest transfer between two Premier League clubs may be one that has benefited no one. Liverpool languish sixth in the Premier League, but they are still three places above Newcastle. But with Isak, Liverpool have 21 goals fewer than at this stage last season. Without him, Newcastle are nine down.
They will at least be spared the possibility of conceding to Isak at Anfield. The broken leg he sustained in scoring at Tottenham will keep him sidelined for a while yet. Isak is out of the protective boot, but not training in his football boots.
Liverpool’s record outlay has so far only brought them three goals, and one of those came against Southampton in the Carabao Cup. His replacements have a combined 12 for Newcastle, albeit in 48 games. Much as Isak’s antics alienated his former admirers on Tyneside, he was not the only forward to go on strike to force a move: so did Yoane Wissa. Eddie Howe, albeit in a different context, said last week he “loved” the Congolese’s attitude at Brentford. Coincidentally or otherwise, Isak and Wissa, one injury-prone, the other seemingly immune to such issues, both got injured after joining new clubs: maybe not having trained came at a considerable cost to their fitness.
Isak has played 16 times for Liverpool, but Slot argued last week that the Reds have only really seen him in peak condition for 10 minutes. Then Micky van de Ven landed on him, after that brief glimpse of sleek brilliance. Maybe Liverpool have missed him – maybe not, as Hugo Ekitike’s performances have invited the question of whether they actually needed him, though they clearly required another forward – but Newcastle certainly have.
"You lose a player like Alex,” mused Howe. “Liverpool paid the money they did because he's an outstanding footballer, an unbelievable talent. When you take that player away from your team, it's going to change the dynamics.”
That has been part of Newcastle’s issue. Nick Woltemade is a compelling footballer, but an idiosyncratic one, less likely to run in behind defences, less suited to away games, which in turn can explain Newcastle’s poor record on the road. The German was overworked when Wissa was injured and is in a drought now, 10 games without a goal, while his Newcastle career also includes an unfortunate derby winner for Sunderland. Wissa has struck three times, but an early miss in the Carabao Cup semi-final will be a factor if they do not retain the title Isak helped win. Newcastle may have been condemned to a season in transition by Isak and by the timing of his departure.
It also swallowed up the fee. It went out immediately for Woltemade and Wissa, some £125m for players who, but for Newcastle’s need to buy at the end of the window, might have had a combined value of approximately £80m. Their frustration may be all the greater because Saturday could provide a glimpse of a player they wanted. Indeed, Ekitike’s pace might have made him a seamless successor to Isak.
Yet they bid for him, and Liverpool got him. The Frenchman has already scored against Newcastle this season – so soon into the second half in August that Arne Slot, slow out of the tunnel, did not even see it – and has 13 goals in all.
He is a rarity. It was a summer of a striking shake-up, and yet, besides Bryan Mbeumo and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, there are few who can be called successes so far. Indeed, Mbeumo was among those who interested Newcastle, along with Benjamin Sesko, Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Ekitike.
Liverpool’s rationale was that Isak was the best of the players on the market; indeed, one Arsenal also liked. Ekitike was bought in part with the future in mind, Isak, for now. It has not worked out that way. The Swede has just two goals in 737 minutes of Premier and Champions League football. His absence postpones one conundrum.
Five months on, it remains to be seen if he and Ekitike can play together. There were briefly encouraging signs in the Champions League win at Eintracht Frankfurt, but then Isak got injured. It has been the story of his season. But as Newcastle and Liverpool, the two clubs who fought out a summer-long tug of war for his services, reconvene, the evidence so far is that neither won.
Category: General Sports
