Fabrizio Romano makes case that Newcastle United selling Alexander Isak could attract top players to club
Newcastle United are facing a very difficult decision, it seems. Keep a disgruntled Alexander Isak against his wishes, or sell one of their biggest stars.
There is no win here for Newcastle as they have been forced into an impossible decision, but Fabrizio Romano has now come up with an idea why Newcastle should perhaps look at letting Isak leave.
It does feel like that will be the inevitable outcome, although it would almost entirely depend on Newcastle being able to bring in a replacement, which is looking increasingly unlikely.
Newcastle have submitted a bid for Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig, but so too have Manchester United, and all the buzz right now is that the Slovenian would prefer a move to Old Trafford over Newcastle, despite the lack of European football on offer by Ruben Amorim's side.
Fabrizio Romano says Newcastle need to sell to attract more players
Romano has a theory as to why promising young players are opting to move elsewhere and ignoring Newcastle, and he told the Men in Blazers podcast that selling Alexander Isak could have a net positive effect in terms of convincing stars to join.
“I think there is a crucial point here. We always see Newcastle signing many players, bringing top players to the club, but it’s difficult to see Newcastle selling players,” Romano said.
“And sometimes some players who are younger and maybe want to develop in a different way, maybe they are scared to go to Newcastle and not having the opportunity to leave the club in maybe two or three years.
“So I think Alexander Isak can be also the opportunity for Newcastle to show that, yes, sometimes you also have to sell your players. You can’t always to keep all of them.
“So I think this is one of the points. Sometimes players are scared to go there because maybe they have to stay there for five years. And some of them in modern football want to leave after two or three years is part of the game.”
Newcastle have been adamant they are no longer a stepping-stone club
Newcastle don't want to be a stepping-stone club, which is why they are so reluctant to sell. That and the fact that their squad is wafer thin and they can't attract new players so there's no scope to sell.
However, Romano may have a point. When a player signs for a club, nobody expects it to be forever. Look at Chelsea. They sign 600 players in every window, but they also let a lot go, too and yet they never seem to have any problem recruiting new ones.
To us, on the outside, Chelsea looks like a meme, but they're obviously doing something right, and perhaps Romano has a point.
We're not sure that selling Isak will have that desired effect, as he is pretty much forcing the move, but if we eventually prove we are willing to let go (something that Eddie Howe has a real problem with), then we may be able to attract more players.
