Alexander Isak moving to Arsenal is the story of the moment with the summer transfer window rapidly approaching.
Newcastle United have one of, if not the best striker in the Premier League and people outside of the club can't stand it.
Mainstream media, along with TNT Sports and Sky Sports can't seem to stand the fact that a player like Isak would choose to play somewhere outside of their beloved 'big six' regardless of the fact that little old Newcastle have made it their mission to break up the 'big six' party.
Now former Everton CEO Keith Wyness, who has come out of nowhere lately to be a voice on all things football, has told Football Insider he thinks £100million would get the deal done for Arsenal to bring Isak from Newcastle.
Media speculation is one thing, but when journalists and pundits completely write off our club, it really gets our collective backs up which is why we couldn't just let this slide. Here's what Wyness said.
“I’m a big admirer of Isak, he’s a high-quality finisher.
“I think you’d be looking at somewhere between £80-100million, and there will be interest in trying to take him away from Newcastle.
“He seems like he’d be the perfect player up front for Arsenal.
“There’s a lot of issues with strikers at some of the top clubs.
“Isak has had some trouble with injury, but when he’s fit he has shown that he’s at that level.
“Strikers always come at a premium, so £80-100million will be the price tag – especially for someone like Isak, who will go right to the very top.
“I’m sure Newcastle will do all they can to keep him, but I think he could go further.”
It's that "I think he could go further" bit that has irked me. Look, we know we aren't there yet, we're not hitting the consistent heights of Champions League qualification, but we're not far off it, and the only way we'll get there is by keeping hold of players like Isak and building the team around them.
Secondly, we wouldn't sell you Isak's shin pads for £100million. In a world where Moises Caicedo goes for £100million, Isak has to be worth twice that.
Football Insider says Wyness "served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs". So he hasn't really been in the game since 2009 but he goes around telling other clubs what to do? Yeah, we'll leave that there.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
12 | 16 | 31 |
2 |
Manchester City
|
12 | 5 | 23 |
3 |
Chelsea
|
12 | 9 | 22 |
4 |
Arsenal
|
12 | 9 | 22 |
5 |
Brighton
|
12 | 5 | 22 |
6 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
12 | 14 | 19 |
7 |
Nottingham Forest
|
12 | 2 | 19 |
8 |
Aston Villa
|
12 | 0 | 19 |
9 |
Fulham
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
10 |
Newcastle United
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
11 |
Brentford
|
12 | 0 | 17 |
12 |
Manchester United
|
12 | 0 | 16 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
12 | -1 | 15 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
12 | -4 | 15 |
15 |
Everton
|
12 | -7 | 11 |
16 |
Leicester
|
12 | -8 | 10 |
17 |
Wolves
|
12 | -8 | 9 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
12 | -10 | 9 |
19 |
Crystal Palace
|
12 | -7 | 8 |
20 |
Southampton
|
12 | -15 | 4 |