Football's biggest soap opera | Write Up
The Premier League is back and there’s no shortage of drama, from last-minute winners to VAR controversy. But it’s still August, which means the biggest soap opera of all rumbles on: the transfer window.
Let’s start in the North East for this week’s transfer drama wrap-up. Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak has been a centre-point for transfer speculation this summer, as Liverpool’s £110million bid for the striker was rejected a few weeks ago. Isak had remained silent around the issue publicly, despite dozens of articles in the news every day suggesting that he was unhappy at Newcastle and desperate to move.
And on Tuesday night, while the PFA awards were happening in London, Isak was conspicuously absent - the only player in the Team of the Year not present to receive his gong. Instead, he was busy on Instagram, and he dropped a statement - here’s its most explosive bit…
“I’ve kept quiet for a long time while others have spoken. The reality is that promises were made and the club has known my position for a long time. To now act as if these issues are emerging is misleading. When promises are broken and trust is lost, the relationship can’t continue.”
Not to be outdone, Newcastle United responded…
“Alex remains part of our family and will be welcomed back when he is ready to rejoin his teammates.”
It’s polite, in theory, but surely embarrassing for Isak - it reads like he’s a naughty child, having a tantrum in his room, and is being told that he can rejoin the family when he’s calmed down. There are still ten days left in the transfer window and, excitingly, Newcastle host Liverpool on Monday at 8pm UK time. I’ll certainly be watching, with the popcorn ready.
It’s not all bad for Newcastle though, as there is one player desperately trying to force a move to the Magpies. Brentford have had a torrid summer with departures, from both players and their ex-head coach, Thomas Frank, and Yoane Wissa seems keen to exit as well. He’s removed every Brentford-related post from his Instagram, much like an aggrieved ex-partner might. Awkwardly, Brentford are not quite allowing the break-up yet, and remain keen to keep him.
And finally, this has to be the story of the window - with my deepest apologies to all the Spurs fans reading this. Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze looked set to head to the Lilywhites in N17, and manager Thomas Frank was certainly looking excited about the prospect…
Eek - it’s not a tweet that aged well. This week, the biggest bomb of all dropped - not only is Eze not coming to Spurs, but he’s going to their biggest rival…
Per Ben Jacobs, Eze had initially met with Arsenal in June, but Ethan Nwaneri’s new deal at the Gunners stopped the move. Then Spurs entered the market after missing out on Morgan Gibbs-White and after James Maddison’s ACL injury - and a deal was lined up and ready to go. However, Daniel Levy and the Spurs board dithered just too long, and after Arsenal forward Kai Havertz was injured, the Gunners were ready to pounce. Apparently Eze is an Arsenal fan, so the move was a no-brainer, and screwing over your local rivals by joining? That’s maybe even better.
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