Alexander Isak made it clear that he no longer wanted to play for Newcastle, and after refusing to play for the Magpies for several weeks, he finally secured his dream move

Newcastle failed to keep hold of Alexander Isak (Image: JONAS EKSTROMER/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)

Newcastle offered Alexander Isak a lucrative new contract which would have included a release clause in a bid to convince him to stay at the club for one more season.

Isak finally got the move he had been craving throughout the summer transfer window, as he completed his switch to Liverpool on deadline day.

The transfer ended one of the most unsavory sagas of the summer, with the player who fired Newcastle to its first major trophy in decades now viewed with disdain by most Magpies fans.

The Telegraph reports that Isak’s desire to leave first emerged in the summer of 2024, but Eddie Howe was able to win him over on that occasion, and the player went on to enjoy the best season of his career.

Toward the end of the 2024-25 campaign, though, the Swede’s desire to move on is said to have resurfaced in a much stronger manner, so much so that Isak eventually told Newcastle in the off-season that he would never play for the club again.

In August, Newcastle co-owner Jamie Reuben visited Isak’s home in a bid to convince him to stay for one more season, telling him that the offer of a new contract containing a release clause of between £120 million ($161 million) and £130 million ($174 million) — which had first been mentioned earlier in the summer — was still on the table.

Clearly, Isak was no willing to entertain the prospect of another season in the North East, and his Premier League-record transfer to Liverpool was completed on deadline day.

Isak signed for Liverpool on deadline day (Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

“I feel amazing,” Isak told Liverpool media after sealing his move to Merseyside. “It’s been a long journey to get here. But I’m super-happy to be a part of this team, this club and everything it stands for. It’s something I’m proud of and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Explaining why Liverpool was the club that Isak wanted to join, he said: “I think it’s a mixture of what the club is building, but what they’re building on top of what the club already is. The history of the club.

“Me getting the chance to be a part of this, I want to create history. I want to win trophies. That’s ultimately the biggest motivation for me and I feel like this is the perfect place for me to grow even further and to take my game to the next level and help the team as well.”