Jamie Carragher tells Liverpool to walk away from ‘messy’ £150m transfer deal | Football

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has declared that his old club should walk away from a ‘messy’ £150m transfer deal to sign Alexander Isak.

The Premier League champions are hoping to land the Newcastle United striker this summer – and saw their first offer of around £110m rejected.

It’s thought that Newcastle are holding out for closer to £150m for Isak but football pundit Carragher has argued that the move ‘doesn’t feel right’.

Liverpool have already splashed out £79m to sign Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike ahead of the 2025-26 season, who would become a back-up to Isak if the Reds ended up signing the Sweden international.

‘Something about it doesn’t feel right’

Speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, Carragher said: ‘He (Isak) will be an amazing signing but from a fan’s point of view for myself, I don’t want Liverpool to spend £150m on Isak.

‘There’s something about Liverpool buying another striker (Ekitike), and he’s backup. Something about it doesn’t feel right to me.

‘I look at Isak, and he’s obviously thrown his toys out the pram once Arsenal signed a striker and Liverpool signed a striker. It feels a bit messy to me now.

‘For me, when I think of Liverpool, it doesn’t look really planned. I don’t think the plan is to buy a striker for £80 million, and then be looking to buy another one for £120 million.

‘In terms of what Liverpool have done in the summer by bringing in players, they’ve spent a lot of money and it doesn’t feel like the Liverpool way of doing things so much.’

Isak told Newcastle at the end of the July that he wants to leave St James’ Park before the summer transfer window closes on September 1.

The 25-year-old has pretty much gone on strike to try and force an exit, with Isak recently training alone at his former club Real Sociedad, despite being under contract with Newcastle until the summer of 2028.

Howe sends message to Isak after rejected bid

Eddie Howe, manager of the Magpies, admits the situation is ‘far from ideal’ but still hopes to see the unsettled star back in a Newcastle shirt.

‘I was made aware there was a bid,’ Howe said. ‘That bid was turned down.

‘There are people back in England dealing with the situation. I really don’t know what is going to happen next, but from our perspective, we still support Alex in every way, and my wish is still that we see him in a Newcastle shirt again.’

Asked if Liverpool’s interest had unsettled Isak ahead of the new season, Howe replied: ‘It’s difficult, because you don’t know what is going to happen from this point.

‘The reality is we had a first bid from Liverpool and that was turned down. From this point onwards, let’s see what happens.’

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