Sam McGuire: Newcastle are the bad guys in the Isak saga | OneFootball

Liverpool bad. Alexander Isak bad.

That seems to be the narrative surrounding the Premier League champions’ so far failed pursuit of the Newcastle United striker this summer.

Good ol’ Newcastle though, refusing to be bullied, right?

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How dare Isak, entering his prime years, dream of competing for the top honours. How dare he want to see how he fares while turning out for England’s most successful club.

And how dare Liverpool, having lost key members of their forward line, look to strengthen their squad in a bid to retain the title. How dare Richard Hughes, respectfully it has to be said, place a British record transfer bid for Isak.

That's the thing, isn't it? Everyone seems to be acting as though Liverpool tried to lowball Newcastle with their offer. They didn't. They played a £110m bid with the majority of the fee paid up front rather than across a five-year period.

As of right now, it's a record bid. Florian Wirtz may surpass that if the add-ons are activated but his fee currently stands at £100m.

Liverpool wanted a deal to be done. They wanted it to be fairly easy and straightforward for everyone so they didn't look to antagonise the Magpies.

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They could've done what countless others have done in the past when trying to unsettle a player.

Barcelona had three bids rejected for Philippe Coutinho before finally convincing Liverpool to sell. They ended up paying £140m when their first offer was £62m. They tried to bully the Reds but ended up irritating the Premier League side. As a result, they had to pay a premium to get the Brazilian maestro.

Chelsea initially bid £60m for Moises Caicedo. They signed him for in excess of £100m. Had they started the bidding closer to the final fee, who knows what he might’ve moved for.

Obviously, teams want to get the best deal so they negotiate. But there's a fine line between a serious offer and one done purely because a team feels they can bully the sellers.

Liverpool weighed up the situation and determined a £110m bid was more than fair. Newcastle aren't ever going to get £200m for Isak. I doubt they even get £150m.

The bid isn't offensive, antagonistic, or low, as some have implied and suggested.

In this scenario, Liverpool have handled this much more respectfully than others would have. Yet they're still viewed as bad.

Likewise, Isak is being painted as a villain.

He's greedy, selfish and unprofessional. Again, this just isn't the case, is it?

His request for a new deal last season was rejected by Paul Mitchell who felt Isak had long enough on his deal to not be viewed as a priority, despite his goalscoring exploits.

A new deal was wanted but was not forthcoming. Is that Isak's fault? No.

Newcastle exacerbated the situation further by trying to price out potential suitors while claiming they simply cannot pay Isak the going rate for a £150m-rated striker. Again, this is all on the club rather than the player.

We've since discovered that Isak informed the club last season that he wanted to leave. He reiterated this in May and followed it up at the end of the season. At first, he did it respectfully, allowing the Magpies time to find replacements. Something they failed to do. He’s now being punished because the Carabao Cup winners weren’t able to convince one of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Liam Delap, Joao Pedro or Hugo Ekitike to move to the North East. They even missed out on James Trafford despite negotiating with Burnley for what felt like months.

Behind the scenes, it is seemingly a mess at St James’ Park. Why would Isak trust them to let him leave next summer, as journalists have reported?

The striker is doing his best to force a move he feels he deserves. He's exiled himself and burnt bridges, not because he wants to but because he has to. And can you blame him? Liverpool haven't been all talk. They stumped up a record bid. They did so in good time too. Yet he's not been able to leave.

This summer has probably backed up his desire to leave too.

Newcastle have struggled in the transfer market to bring in top class players. They've missed out on a lot of names. They can't match Isak's ambition. So why should he waste his time there?

And for those saying he owes a lot to Newcastle, he doesn't, does he? They spent big on him but he fired them to their first trophy in a long time and into the Champions League. He's going to bank them a British record fee.

Earlier in the summer, Alan Shearer gave his thoughts on the Trent Alexander-Arnold situation, saying: “I don’t get the criticism, I mean, he’s entitled to do whatever he wants.

“He’s given that football club absolutely everything. Yes, he’s on a good salary but he’s won everything and if he wants to challenge himself, going abroad and playing for Real Madrid, then so be it. They turned a bid down for him in January, so they could have made money on him.

“He’s played, I don’t know what, 350 games and he’s always given his best. They should give him a great send off.”

“They turned a bid down for him in January, so they could have made money on him.

The same energy isn't there for Isak. Shock, right?

“Newcastle have named their price, which is nearer to £150m, so we will have to see what Liverpool do next. The top and bottom of it is that if Newcastle don't get the money they want, or the two strikers they need, then Isak stays.”