Newcastle's Alexander Isak transfer hope is 'divorced from reality' as reality check issued

Jamie Carragher has branded Newcastle "divorced from reality" after claiming that Liverpool 's £110million offer for Alexander Isak was "derisory". Isak is attempting to push through a move to Liverpool and issued a statement earlier this week accusing Newcastle of breaking promises.

"The reality is that promises were made and the club has known my position for a long time," Isak said. "To now act as if these issues are only emerging is misleading. When promises are broken and trust is lost, the relationship can't continue."

The club responded to Isak's statement, insisting that "the conditions of a sale this summer have not transpired" and that they "do not foresee those conditions being met". Newcastle value Isak at £150m, but Liverpool legend Carragher believes that would be "too much".

In his latest column for the Telegraph, Carragher said: "Obviously I would like to see the Swedish striker become a Liverpool player, but not at any cost, and the suggestion that the first £110m offer for Isak is 'derisory' is divorced from reality.

"If Liverpool bid more than £130 million, it is too much. You would want Kylian Mbappé for the fee. From the moment Isak made his debut against Liverpool at Anfield, he has stood out, but there are concerns.

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"Now 25, he is yet to prove he has the durability of Salah. He has failed to start 36 league games over his three seasons in England and 10 of his last 44 league goals were penalties. He would not be taking them at Anfield.

"Liverpool knew from the outset how tough it would be to convince Newcastle to sell. Once Newcastle qualified for the Champions League, my instinct was the door shut. Newcastle have the power to resist because Isak has three years to run, and they can also anticipate big earnings from a European campaign, making such a sale unnecessary.

"No matter what Isak wanted privately, there was a fair assumption it would be another 12 months before such a transfer was tolerable at St James' Park. Signing a new deal with the written guarantees Isak claims were made verbally would have forced the move in 2026.

"Now it is carnage. Howe is currently without his best player, and reintegrating him has become more complicated after the understandably hostile reaction of Newcastle fans at Villa Park last weekend."

Isak is currently training away from Newcastle's first team after missing their pre-season tour of Asia and he did not play in Newcastle's opener against Aston Villa, which ended as a 0-0 draw.

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