Long-running summer transfer sagas are nothing new in the world of football.
In fact, it’s very rare that a big-name player at the height of their powers will move clubs without a great deal of back-and-forth that is usually only resolved by the payment of an eye-watering fee amid buckets of acrimony from fans of the selling club.
Alexander Isak’s £125 million move from Newcastle United to Liverpool was a classic of the genre, with the player training away from the Magpies this summer, before accusing the Newcastle hierarchy of breaking promises over his future.
Jermaine Pennant on the Alexander Isak transfer saga
With Isak having well and truly burned his bridges at St. James’ Park, a deal was finally struck on deadline day, when Newcastle had got a replacement on board in the shape of German forward Nick Woltemade.
That paved the way for Isak to get his move and end the Swede’s time in the north-east, much to the delight of Liverpool fans.
All parties will have been pleased to have drawn a line under the whole situation, but according to former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant, sagas like this are nothing new.
“It happened to me, albeit on a much lower scale, when I played for Stoke,” Pennant recalls to FourFourTwo. “It was all agreed that I was going to Leeds on loan, then out of nowhere, Tony Pulis blocked it.
“He said, ‘You are going to be in my plans’, but then for the next game when we played Everton, he put me in the stands. I wasn’t happy with that at all.
“I was like, ‘So you stopped me from going to play first-team football, then told me I was going to be in your plans, then at the next opportunity you put me in the stands to watch the game as a fan?’
“I showed my frustration, and so the week after that, I was training with the kids and was told not to be around the first team.
“So it goes both ways, and because this situation with Isak was on such a massive scale, it was all in the spotlight. But those kinds of arguments go on at all clubs.”
