Alexander Isak, the final boss of this summer's transfer window

The Guardian

6 days ago

'Winning the transfer window' is common parlance these days, despite its entire premise lacking anything like common sense. Some players come good/go bad quicker/slower than others. But such is the binary nature of football's unrelenting push towards being a mercantile, rather than sporting pursuit, that Football Daily is all too happy to throw itself into such nonsense. It's what we're here for, in all honesty.
In a world of 'here we go', 'preparing a bid' and 'agreements reached', this summer's final boss is Alexander Isak. He's the striker everyone wants, Newcastle most of all, during what must now be termed 'a troubled pre-season'. To use more common parlance, the 25-year-old Swedish hitman, the best player on Tyneside since Alan Shearer was king creosote, is now a 'wantaway striker', to use even more common parlance. 'Eddie Howe has to use all his persuasive powers to do what he can and try to make him stay at least one more year,' wailed Wor Alan himself. About those persuasive powers: Newcastle have chased down Bryan Mbeumo, João Pedro, Matheus Cunha, Dean Huijsen, Liam Delap, James Trafford and Hugo Ekitike … and none of them were welcomed by a soft-focus social media disgrace video featuring Sam Fender breathily singing the lyrics of Alan Hull. All headed elsewhere. Thus far, only Anthony Elanga for a pricey-looking £55m has arrived.
Isak cost not far short of £65m when Newcastle bought him and, as Shearer sighed, if they can get 'north of' £150m for him, then that's good business. Well, perhaps if Howe and a recruitment team including his nephew can do what King Kevin Keegan once did and tell players London is actually closer than they thought. A certain element of dissatisfaction begins to simmer on Tyneside. Wasn't the end of the hated Mike Ashley regime supposed to be the end of Newcastle as a selling club? Surely the involvement of the Saudi Public Investment Fund meant the club was rich beyond any wildest dreams during Ashley's reign of torpor? This wasn't what the drone show promised.
In the wings await Liverpool and Arsenal, who in Toon Army lore are members of the hated Red Cartel who pushed profit and sustainability rules on the Premier League to mean all that Saudi loot couldn't be splurged on Kylian Mbappé. Now that Isak's desire to 'explore his options', to use the euphemism, is clear, they appear the most likely destinations. If Liverpool clear out seven players – Darwin Núñez, Harvey Elliott, Luis Díaz, Federico Chiesa, Kostas Tsimikas, Tyler Morton and Ben Doak – then the cash may well be available. 'Headroom', to return to using common transfer business parlance. Meanwhile, in actual football news, Howe's team kicked off pre-season with Saturday's 4-0 defeat to Celtic, who in turn lost 5-1 to Ajax on Thursday.
'I realised how quickly things can change, from playing to not having a football job. I think that helped me think about future plans … you know one day you have to retire. I think that scares a lot of people' – Yana Daniëls missed out on Belgium's Euros squad but has made a place for herself in the tournament – by handcrafting wooden trophy cases on the Wirral.
I don't know about Ashley Young running legendary north London boozer the Faltering Fullback (yesterday's Football Daily). But he could probably get a game. The Fullback will be making its debut in a London vets league this season and players need to be 40 years old/young. Enquire within, Ashley. Training's in Finsbury Park most some weeks' – Dan Ashley.
I hate to be that person, but I want to avoid the erasure of Grimsby Town's link with footballing history. Tony Ford didn't spend the majority of his career in Lancashire (yesterday's Football Daily), he spent the majority on the banks of the River Humber where the salty air from the mudflats no doubt prolonged his career, allowing him to finish it at Rochdale. Some 444 games in total with two spells at the Mariners, with time spent in Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and the West Midlands in between' – Mark Gill.
Is everyone still arguing about the north and south of England (Football Daily letters passim)? Thankfully I live in New Zealand, where the north and south are conveniently divided into different islands. If you followed the example of New Zealand, the Solent would be the dividing line, and residents of the Isle of Wight would refer to it as the mainland" – Tim Scanlan.
If you have any, please send letters to [e-mail]. Today's winner of our prizeless letter o' the day is … Tim Scanlan. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.
The Women's Football Weekly pod squad are back once again with a preview of the Euro 2025 final.
Yes, there is a David Squires extended universe and yes, you can get your hands on a host of his cartoons – including a limited-edition new strip.
England's 1966 team had World Cup Willie, an imaginary cartoon lion. They also had Pickles, the pooch who found the Jules Rimet trophy – presumably still gleaming – wrapped in newspaper lying by the front wheel of a parked car in South Norwood. As for the Lionesses, they have a real, live hound accompanying them to glory at Euro 2025. Reggie the Cavapoo belongs to the owner of the mobile barista bar that's accompanying England on their Euros campaign, and the players have taken Reggie to their hearts. Added Keira Walsh: 'I don't think he realises how much he's helped us. When we won the game, he came into the meal room afterwards, and we were all so happy to see him. So I think he's definitely been helping the most, it's fair to say.' Reports of Sarina Wiegman's ears burning are unconfirmed.
Keira Walsh has called for more protection against online abuse after England teammate Jess Carter was the target of racist vitriol. 'I haven't had social media for the best part of four or five months, and I feel a lot better most of the time,' she said. 'I think obviously the girls are smart enough to know what they should and shouldn't be looking at, and I'm sure they'll know what is going to put them in a good headspace and what isn't. Do I think there's enough protection on social media? No, I don't, but I'm not going to be able to change that. That's not up to me, but I think just in general, people can be more protected on social media, and I think we can do more to stop that from happening.'
Javier Hernández regrets 'any confusion or discomfort' his words may have caused, after being fined by the Mexican Football Federation for making sexist remarks on social media. Liga MX and Liga MX Femenil officials said the 37-year-old's comments were in violation of their gender and diversity policies and constituted a form of media violence. 'I am listening, reflecting, and committed to expressing myself with greater clarity and sensitivity, especially on such sensitive issues,' he parped. 'Change begins with oneself.'
The WSL fixtures are out, out, out, and Sky Sports intend to schedule most of its live matches at 12pm in the new season.
LAFC are sniffing around a move for Tottenham's Son Heung-min.
As mentioned up top, James Trafford will not be moving to Tyneside, settling on Manchester City instead.
And despite scoring one competitive goal since November 2023, loanee striker Evan Ferguson has hit the ground running at Roma – banging home four goals in a 9-0 pre-season friendly win over Serie D side UniPomeza.
Suzanne Wrack considers what football can do to fight racism after England women's players opted to stop taking the knee before matches.
Walsh v Bonmatí, defensive frailties and impact substitutes: Sophie Downey looks at where Sunday's Euro 2025 final could be won and lost.
Patri Guijarro is the least-known of Spain's key midfield trio but she helps her teammates thrive for club and country, writes Alex Ibaceta.
'She doesn't care what people think' – Chloe Kelly is once again England's chief content generator and an unashamed icon, explains Jonathan Liew.
Good news for England: in recent years, the team to play their semi-final first usually goes on to win the final. Tom Garry has been running the numbers.
England's bumpy road to Basel echoes the men's team and their run to the Euro 2024 final – which they lost to Spain. Paul MacInnes connects the dots.
Marcus Rashford's blockbuster loan to Barcelona means it's time for the 27-year-old to deliver at the highest level again, warns Jonathan Wilson.
Over in the USA x 3, MLS teams are enjoying fewer home wins – but that's a good sign for the league's quality and competitiveness, cheers Ryan Baldi.
And why not have a bang on the quiz of the week.
All major tournament organisers live in fear of diplomatic incidents, and even before the London Olympics had begun, on this day in 2012, a careless misuse of flags had execs reaching for the crisis PR. A women's preliminary round match at Hampden Park between North Korea and Colombia was delayed by more than an hour after North Korea's players refused to play when a South Korean flag accompanied their team on the stadium's giant screen. 'Our players cannot be shown especially with other flags, especially the South Korean one,' roared the coach, Ui Gun-sin. 'We will apologise to the team and the National Olympic Committee and steps will be taken to ensure this does not happen again,' groaned the organising committee.