Isak wants to have his cake and eat it, says ex-Liverpool star

Stan Collymore has taken aim at the Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak and his agent, Vlado Lemic, over their efforts to force a transfer to Liverpool.

The summer-long saga took a fresh twist on Tuesday night when Isak issued a statement on social media in which he accused Newcastle of “breaking promises” and said his relationship with the club was over.

Newcastle responded with a statement in which they expressed disappointment over the Sweden striker’s decision to speak out and reiterated that he remains under contract, with no agreement in place that would allow him to leave the club this summer.

The war of words represents a significant escalation of the situation and Collymore, who spent two seasons at Liverpool after joining the club from Nottingham Forest in 1995, has accused Isak and his camp of presiding over “a football transfer room 101 in how not to handle a febrile situation”.

Addressing Isak’s apparent belief that he had a verbal understanding with Newcastle that he would be allowed to move on if a suitable offer arrived this summer, Collymore suggested Lemic was at fault for failing to secure a written agreement.

What did Stan Collymore say about Alexander Isak’s transfer ambitions?

“I’ve experienced this, as have a million players,” said the former England striker, who famously scored a stoppage time winner for Liverpool against Newcastle in a 4-3 classic at Anfield in 1996.

“I think he’s alluding to (on signing that contract) the old, ‘Do well and if someone offers £80m for you we’ll let you go.’ Answer to this, of course, is a buy-out clause that both parties should maybe have entered into.

“I’d sack the agent if I’d received the advice he has, because his contract didn’t have a ‘If you do well you can go at £xxxx’ [clause].”

It is Isak’s failure to submit a transfer request, however, that seems to have particularly drawn Collymore’s ire.

“He’s doing something every modern player does, and I hate it,” Collymore continued in a lengthy social media post.

‘The player wants to have his cake and eat it’

“Won’t  take the very old-school route of [submitting a] transfer request as it means giving up a large chunk of bonus/ loyalty/ salary. In short, modern players want to leave, be paid on leaving and on signing for a new club. 

“If the player wants to leave but doesn’t want to go on the transfer list, then that’s the player wanting that cake and eating it.”

Collymore’s views would seem to be at least partly shared by sections of the Newcastle fanbase, with travelling supporters branding Isak “greedy” following the club’s goalless draw at Aston Villa on Saturday. 

Collymore’s comments follow a suggestion by another former Liverpool striker, Ian Rush, that Newcastle’s £150m valuation of Isak is “ludicrous”.