How Newcastle are looking into the future after Alexander Isak's exit

Following Newcastle’s sale of Alexander Isak to Liverpool, the club proved to supporters that they are reinvesting in new players to strengthen their attack.

Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade’s transfer fees matched the exact amount received for Isak. 

Yoane Wissa, who is expected to wear the No.9 shirt now that Callum Wilson has also departed, and 6ft 6ins Woltemade will join Anthony Gordon, William Osula and the other new signing Jacob Ramsey up-front to give Eddie Howe a strong attacking force.

Osula was the subject of a late bid from Eintracht Frankfurt, but Newcastle elected to keep their bright new star.

Transfer timing is essential and ends immediately the clock reaches the allotted time.

Yoane Wissa was signed by Newcastle with only 10 seconds to go before the end of the transfer period on September 1.

Wissa had forgotten to sign one of the transfer forms, and his representative could be seen running through Newcastle’s training building carrying the form for Wissa to sign. 

Wissa then flew to join his fellow DR Congo teammates for their World Cup qualifier. It is possible that he could miss up to seven matches if DR Congo reach the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, which is a problem faced by many clubs because of the rise of African stars who have signed for Premier League clubs during the past few years.

Update on Cunha and Mount

Things looked bright for Manchester United’s under-fire coach Ruben Amorim before the start of the season, but as so often in football, it has not gone to plan.

There is an air of concern at Carrington as the team trained before and after a quiet breakfast, and there were huddled whispers regarding the club’s latest setback.

Two of Amorim’s favoured new attack-minded starters, Matheus Cunha and Mason Mount, picked up injuries. Cunha pulled up clutching his hamstring in the match against Burnley last Saturday.

He has withdrawn from the Brazil squad for their match in the World Cup qualifiers.

It is difficult at this stage to assess the seriousness of Mount’s problem, but after an injury-prone two seasons at the club, he played for 30 minutes against Burnley, nursing his leg muscle and was replaced by Kobbie Maino at half-time. 

I spotted Cunha walking fairly freely into the car park after the Burnley game, and although Amorim said he was not sure of the extent of his injury, there was hope he would be back after the break.

Good news for United supporters is the expected return of Lisandro Martinez after the international break, when they face a difficult derby match against Manchester City.

The Argentine suffered a cruciate ligament knee injury last season but is back in training.

However, I have been told that although he is making good progress, he might not be available until October, but the United medical team are working on getting him fit before that.

The truth behind Isak's transfer and why Liverpool wanted him

Newcastle’s final agreement to sell Alexander Isak to Liverpool for £130m wasn’t without a last-minute drama.

Isak made it very clear that he wanted to go, and he was house hunting in Liverpool last week, while Newcastle were drawing with Leeds as they struggled to find the goal without Isak.

He stayed in Liverpool in case the deal went through and was ready to play for his new team. 

He had refused to play for Newcastle for two months, which saw his salary stopped, and he chose to train alone away from the team, which was agreed with coach Eddie Howe.

The football world heard that Isak had been sold for £125million, but Newcastle directors held out for an extra £5 million, and Liverpool finally agreed to pay it.

I am told that Newcastle are pleased and they have done “very strong business” and the £130million was immediately reinvested in Howe’s squad.

Isak will not receive any loyalty bonuses for the three years he was at the club. 

The fee paid by Liverpool is a Premier League record and easily dwarfs the £115million Chelsea paid Brighton for Moises Caicedo in 2023 and Liverpool’s £116.5million to bring Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.

For Newcastle, it is very good business because they paid only £63million for the 25-year-old in 2022.

The main reason why Liverpool wanted Isak is that last season, he finished third behind Erling Haaland and Mo Salah in scoring 23 goals.

He can cause defensive problems by pulling them out of position, dropping deep and then running in from behind, and he has exceptional dribbling skills.

Isak’s toxic attitude was the main reason why Howe reluctantly agreed to the sale, and he felt from a coaching perspective that the situation could not be resolved despite his efforts to persuade Isak to stay.

The striker had already told his teammates in the dressing room that he would not play for the club again, and he has doubled his Newcastle wages in a six-year deal at Anfield.

His agent representatives fed social media transfer gossip to push through the deal quicker, and much of what you have read online has come from them. 

One thing is for sure, it is just as well that Liverpool visited Newcastle on August 25th, because the next time Isak plays at St James Park, the Newcastle fans will make it a very unwelcome and loud visit.

**Fascinating fact: In modern-day money terms, Alan Shearer’s move from Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle in 1996 for a world record of £15 million would, in today’s money, allow for inflation, cost a huge £222 million!

Transfer window spending goes into overdrive

The world’s best league has seen an incredible spending spree this summer.

With the astonishing sum Liverpool paid Newcastle for Alexander Isak, amounting to £130m, Premier League clubs spent record amounts this summer. 

To demonstrate how much spending has risen, here are the total amounts the big clubs spent during this transfer period. Liverpool £447m, Chelsea £297m, Arsenal £267m, Newcastle £256m, Man Utd over £200m.  

Total amounts spent are £ 3.2 bn for 2025/26, £ 2.1 bn for 2024/25, £2.5bn for 2023/24, £2.1bn for 2022/23, and £1.1bn for 2021/22.

The increases have been made possible due to new TV deals, which have become significantly more profitable as more countries around the world televise the weekly EPL matches. 

City will find it difficult to compete if they don’t improve

Many would acknowledge that Pep Guardiola is the best coach in world football.

However, for the second season running, Manchester City are getting off to a poor start and sit in 13th place in the EPL table with one win and two losses. 

Pep was truly shocked on the south coast when Brighton took all three points despite Erling Haaland scoring on his 100th appearance for City.

After another surprise defeat to Tottenham last week, Haaland put City ahead against Brighton after a clever pass from Omar Marmoush and looked to be in control at the Amex Stadium. 

City lined up with two world-class midfielders, the returning Rodri and new signing Tijjani Reijnders and their dominance and Haaland’s finishing should have sealed the game before half-time. 

But it didn’t happen as Brighton coach Fabian Hurzeler brought on Milner, Brajan Gruda, Georgino Rutter and Yasin Auari.

It was Gruda who pushed aside challenges from Rayan Ait-Nouri and keeper James Trafford before putting the ball into the net.

Guardiola was despondent when it was pointed out to him that the last team to recover from such a bad start to the season and then go on to win the title was Manchester United 32 years ago.

Haaland might have scored more, but he missed several chances that you would normally expect him to slot home.

Last season, City blamed the absence of Rodri in the centre of midfield and which severely limited their ability to stop counterattacks.

This season, there is no excuse. City could not handle the darting runs of Yankuba Minteh, Kaoru Mitoma, Gruda and Rutter. 

Rodri had the last word when he supported what Guardiola had already said, “Some of the mistakes we are making are kids' mistakes. We are not concentrating and paying attention. The reality is that we have to raise the level if we want to compete.”

*In a final push to strengthen at the back, City signed a favourite of Guardiola’s, PSG’s world-class goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma for £23million, which has complicated James Trafford’s position for a start between the posts.

Trafford thought going to City would automatically mean he was in the first eleven, but the situation is different now.

Inner thoughts of West Ham’s Graham Potter

Last week, he was a potential first sacking of the season, but this week, West Ham coach Graham Potter is a hero.

I don’t think many of us would have bet on the Hammers travelling to Nottingham Forest and leaving with a 3-0 win, but they achieved it in style. 

Potter said, “The world we live in, you get written off in your job after a week, which is ridiculous. This world is about outcomes and results, and our results have been damaging, I admit that. So, in the end, there is always noise, there is always criticism. People lose trust, people lose belief. But in the end, that’s why I am here, because I can do the job. I’ve done it for 15 years, and I believe in myself".

"I believe in the attributes and the qualities I have, and I can also deal with the downside of the game. Fortunately for me, I have a team that supported me and worked for me and against Forest; they showed that belief and loyalty. That’s why I am delighted for my team, for the fans and for the club owners.”

Of course, such a loss at home puts the losing coach at risk, and Forest boss Nuno Espirito-Santos suffered humiliation after a week of intense infighting with his owner boss Evangelos Marinakis.

The problems between them spilt onto the pitch against West Ham and showed how club unity is so important, and Marinakis would do well to remember that.

Ciao Jamie, enjoy Italy

Jamie Vardy and his wife, Rebekah, sat down and looked at two offers which had come in for the Leicester legend. Feyenoord boss Robin van Persie tried to persuade Jamie to go to Holland to play in the Dutch Eredivisie league.

The 38-year-old former England striker decided the Italian lifestyle would suit them better, and he has chosen Italian Serie A side Cremonese.

He has agreed to a one-year contract with an option for a second, provided the club avoids relegation.

They are doing well at the moment, sitting in third place behind Napoli and Juventus with maximum points after winning two games against Sassuolo and AC Milan.

They won promotion to Serie A last season. Vardy scored 200 goals in 500 appearances for Leicester, and he flies to Italy on Sunday for a medical.

 Chelsea fans are disappointed with the transfer business

Despite Chelsea sitting second in the table after three games, fans I talked to at Stamford Bridge are far from happy with the club’s transfer business, and neither is coach Enzo Maresca.

The boss wanted money spent on reinforcing his defence since the injury to Levi Colwill means he will be out for months rather than weeks after undergoing surgery for an anterior cruciate ligament injury.  

Big money additions are Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens, but Nicolas Jackson has gone, and Chelsea fans are critical of the recruitment action.

I heard remarks such as, “Such a poor ending to the transfer window from Chelsea, and we really didn’t do enough this summer.”

“Chelsea’s end to the transfer window has been an absolute disaster. Nicolas Jackson is off to Bayern, no major incomings, and we’ve recalled Sunderland’s third choice striker to be Joao Pedro’s back-up.” 

“Under this ownership, we have gone back to the old Chelsea, where we always sign players to gain favours and play it safe instead of bringing in players we actually need. Enzo Maresca is going to have a tough season despite our positive start.”

 ‘Old man’ Milner breaks another record

James Milner became the oldest player to score a penalty for 101 years as he put the ball past Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford at the age of 39 years and 239 days.

He was one day younger than a Burnley player called David Taylor, who converted his penalty in April 1924!

Grealish and Pal Dewsbury-Hall are working together

Everton coach David Moyes has struck gold, signing Jack Grealish and Kieran Dewsbury-Hall. Both were unwanted by their previous clubs, Man City and Chelsea.

Now they have effectively linked up together for the Toffees and are proving what good players they are. Dewsbury-Hall said after the Wolves win, “I’ve known Jack for a long while off the pitch, and I know what he’s like as a lad. After I signed, he dropped me a little message and said, “How good is it up there?” and I said, “Get yourself down here, mate and let’s show them what we can do.”

Their impressive form and link-ups are certainly succeeding.