Newcastle 'will now sell Isak' as Ekitike 'takes matter into own hands' with 'request'

Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike have been linked with moves to Liverpool.

Hugo Ekitike has not actually submitted what would have been the least necessary transfer request of all time, nor will Newcastle ‘now sell Alexander Isak’.

What the Ek?

It is precisely zero surprise to see that while everyone else has ignored the obviously daft suggestion that Hugo Ekitike has handed in a transfer request to ‘force through’ a move which is going to happen anyway, a handful of certain publications are not only willing but entirely desperate to disregard any such red flags.

Top of the Daily Mirror website is this:

‘Ekitike takes drastic action in bid to force Liverpool transfer – with Reds ready to fork out more than £70m to sign in-demand striker’

While most of their Reach sister titles are very much at it too:

‘Hugo Ekitike makes major transfer play to force through Liverpool move’ – Liverpool.com.

‘Hugo Ekitike takes drastic action in desperate bid to force Liverpool transfer through’ – Daily Express.

‘Hugo Ekitike ‘takes matters into his own hands’ to force through Liverpool transfer’ – Liverpool Echo (and possibly Mediawatch’s favourite seeing as it inevitably quotes no-one).

Each story cites a SportBild update on Ekitike’s Liverpool move, included within which is indeed this translated line:

‘According to SPORT BILD, the striker wants to join Liverpool FC. The Frenchman has reportedly already submitted his transfer request to the bosses of the Hesse club.’

It is quite clear, to those not under ludicrous pressure to meet certain quotas for stories and clicks, that this is no actual ‘transfer request’. It is no more than an awkward translation quirk of Ekitike letting Frankfurt know he wants to join Liverpool.

Because if you stop for a second to consider why Ekitike would submit a transfer request it immediately makes absolutely no sense, even beyond any loyalty bonus stuff.

SportBild themselves say ‘hopes are growing that the demanded €100 million will actually be forthcoming’ from Liverpool and ‘Liverpool have reportedly already signalled to Frankfurt that they are willing to pay the requested transfer fee’.

And having had an opening bid of £70m turned down it does not require a lucid imagination to think Liverpool might soon get somewhere close to £86m or so for their priority target now Alexander Isak has proven to be predictably unattainable.

So why would Ekitike submit a transfer request to ‘force through’ a transfer which is going to go through anyway? Why would he deem such ‘drastic action’ necessary? Why would he ‘take matters into his own hands’ when Frankfurt are willing to sell and Liverpool are willing to buy, and the two clubs have only just started happily negotiating over a fee?

Those are the questions pretty much everyone asked themselves before deciding it was a complete non-story. Well, almost everyone.

Alexander the great

A prime example of how stupid it is to base an entire story around what is fairly obviously a poor translation or misquote from elsewhere just because aggregation is king does, handily enough, come straight from the Liverpool Echo on Friday morning, and this line from Theo Squires:

‘Newcastle United have been adamant throughout the summer that they will now sell star striker Alexander Isak, despite interest from the likes of Liverpool.’

The temptation to publish a story about how Newcastle are ‘adamant’ they ‘will now sell star striker Alexander Isak’ this summer is real. It’s fine if you quote and cite someone else, right? That’s got to be fair game?

READ MORE: Six excellent possible outcomes of Isak or Ekitike to Liverpool or Newcastle… or Chelsea

Jog on, the Tyne

That opinion piece from Squires also includes these two paragraphs:

‘Newcastle might have dreamt of partnering Ekitike with Isak, as the Reds did all those years ago with Suarez and Torres, but Liverpool have ensured that will now never become a reality. ‘Realistically, they stood little chance of winning both battles against the Premier League champions.’

Newcastle will be devastated to have to keep one of the best centre-forwards in world football, especially after losing a ‘battle’ they and no-one else actually knew they were in until Liverpool pivoted from the ungettable Isak to Ekitike.

A negotiating masterclass

‘The Bryan Mbeumo transfer has played out as Manchester United expected’ is sensational headline work from the Manchester Evening News to a Samuel Luckhurst piece which stinks of copium.

Some wonderful proof of how this transfer – which is yet to be completed with Brentford mulling over a third offer lodged more than six weeks after the first – ‘has played out as Manchester United expected’ comes in the seventh paragraph:

‘There has been a shift from United. A target they initially valued at £50m-odd could end up costing them £70m. Sources say Brentford refused to budge on an overall £70m fee and United eventually relented.’

Just how they planned it all along. Big Sir Jim with his big business brain has done it again.

There is also something beautifully innocent about Luckhurst squaring off the difference between the Cunha and Mbeumo fees as ‘logical’ in part because ‘Mbeumo is slightly younger’.

Yes. By 72 days. Not sure that helps account for a £7.5m discrepancy whatsoever really.

Shirt happens

Mediawatch will never not love a steaming pile of ‘dream shirt number’ nonsense. It is harmless but hilarious guff thrown into the transfer void to help fill the silence when there are no actual updates on an ongoing deal.

‘Bryan Mbeumo offered chance to land dream Man Utd shirt number after £70m bid’ is a stunning example of the genre from the Daily Mirror website, who reckon wearing that famous Manchester United No. 19 could be an ‘added incentive’ for Mbeumo.

The Brentford forward has, after all, ‘always played in the No 19 shirt during his footballing career’. Aside from the times he also wore 11 and 33 for Troyes, and has almost always been No. 20 for Cameroon.

Both numbers are free of course after Diogo Dalot took the No. 2. So if Manchester United finally find a breakthrough over a £70m deal with Brentford the move might still break down when they deliberate for too long over which shirt number to offer Mbeumo.

Click here to read article