Alexander Isak’s true feelings about Liverpool signing Hugo Ekitike before him have come to light. The Swedish international was the undoubted talk of the transfer window this past summer, finally securing his British record transfer to Anfield on deadline day, having insisted for weeks that he would never play again for Newcastle.

At one point in the window, it appeared that the Magpies would be willing to let Isak leave once they had got a deal for Frenchman Ekitike over the line themselves, only for Liverpool to swoop in and secure the services of the then Eintracht Frankfurt star instead. And it has now come to light exactly how Isak handled that situation.

Isak’s Feelings on Liverpool Signing Ekitike

A report by The Athletic detailed the timelines of Ekitike’s move to Liverpool and how Newcastle felt that the Reds’ attempts to land him while also being in discussions with Isak were nothing more than a power play, as they knew Newcastle were also interested in the striker and didn’t want to lose out on Isak either.

Liverpool’s response was that Newcastle were late to the party when it came to registering their interest in the 23-year-old, with whom they had already been in contact since January and had spoken to again towards the end of the 2024/25 season.

As for how Isak took the news, the report states that those close to him believe there was a change in his mood once he was aware that Ekitike was Merseyside-bound. While he had already travelled with Newcastle to Austria for a training camp, Ekitike’s move then coincided with him sustaining the dubious ‘minor injury’ that ruled him out of the pre-season tour of Asia, which could eventually be seen as the moment, at least publicly, that the saga surrounding his future began.

As Isak continued to double down on his desire to leave, releasing a public statement saying that promises had been broken after failing to attend the PFA awards ceremony, Newcastle remained steadfast in that they were not going to be bullied into selling one of their star players.

Behind the scenes though, manager Eddie Howe, who had said publicly he wanted Isak to return to the squad, had begun to sense that persuading Isak to stay was becoming unrealistic, and that forcing the striker to remain could ultimately harm Newcastle’s campaign. Speaking in a press conference, he conceded the impasse had turned into a “lose-lose situation” for the club, who would ultimately cave in and replace the Swede with Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade.