Match of the Day debutant Wayne Rooney had his say on Liverpool transfer target Alexander Isak
Wayne Rooney spoke in depth about Alexander Isak on his Match of the Day debut(Image: Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images))
The Premier League is back and with it Match of the Day was on our screens this Saturday night – a welcome sight for fans up and down the country. It returns with a number of changes to the regular line-up of hosts and pundits, the ‘biggest’ of which was alluded to at the start of the show.
One of a trio of new hosts for the main show, Mark Chapman, pointed out the permanent addition of Wayne Rooney to the pool of former professionals giving their insight into the action. That was a sarcastic quip, of course, knowing he, Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates have the important shoes of Gary Lineker to fill.
So Chapman led Rooney and fellow pundit Alan Shearer through Liverpool‘s win over Bournemouth on Friday night as well as all of Saturday’s matches that marked the top-flight’s return.
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The most interesting part of the show was when they landed upon Newcastle’s goalless draw at Aston Villa, surprisingly. There was actually so little to talk about from the game itself that they had to pivot to the topic that has been dominating our web browsers and social media feeds for the best part of a month – Alexander Isak.
The Magpies’ wantaway striker was not involved in the fixture as he reportedly angles for a transfer to Liverpool. It’s implied the 25-year-old has chosen to never play for his current club again in order to forcefully get what he wants.
And amid Shearer’s fume, Rooney posed a question that all but proved he has missed the point entirely about why this saga has gone the way it has done.
“Also for the team whose trying to sign him, obviously it looks like Liverpool whose trying to sign him, you have to wonder if that’s the sort of player you want?” he asked.
“[A player] who is going to desert his teammates, who’s going to walk away from a huge football club. It’s a good opportunity with Liverpool, but it has to be done in the right way, I don’t think it is.”
Isak may not have acted gracefully towards his current club in this tense scenario but does Rooney seriously expect any such behaviour to continue once a transfer to Anfield comes to fruition?
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Isak is doing this because he has done all he can do at Newcastle. They provided him with the opportunity to bring his career to the Premier League and in return he has helped them qualify for the Champions League in two out of the last three seasons whilst winning their first major trophy in 70 years.
The Sweden international now desires Liverpool so that he can have the chance to win that European title and also the Premier League title, which being harshly realistic neither is going to happen in the North East without a Leicester City-esque miracle.
Yes, he signed a six-year agreement and that should be respected. Liverpool would be equally as furious if the shoe was on the other foot.
Perhaps the question Rooney should have been asking Shearer instead of fuelling his rant would be ‘why are Newcastle holding their player back?’
They win nothing out of a player allegedly refusing the play for them again. In fact, they just lose – that transfer value will plummet if he is not playing with that contract ticking down.
If they’d taken £110m at the start of August, as Liverpool offered up front, then they would have had those funds in the bank to be able to go out and land their top targets with no questions asked.
Liverpool are the prime example that life always goes on it football. Fernando Torres, Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho – the most high-profile players to have left Liverpool since Fenway Sports Group (FSG) took over on Merseyside, and look where the club stand as of today compared to where they were when any of them departed.
What is quite a simple debate has been drawn out into a full-blown transfer saga.