Rousing the Kop

Jamie Carragher urges Newcastle to sell Alexander Isak to avoid same ‘nightmare’ situation Liverpool had in 2011

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Newcastle vs Liverpool was set up to be a fierce encounter and it certainly did not disappoint.



The Reds travelled to St James’ Park on Monday night for a huge meeting under the lights, with the build-up to this game, as expected, being overshadowed by one thing.



The Alexander Isak saga dominated the headlines pre-match, but after the game it was Rio Ngumoha who stole the spotlight after the 16-year-old netted a last-minute winner.



However, this probably will not last long as the Isak debacle is set to come to a resolution one way or another this week, with Reds fans hoping they can get another thing over Newcastle in the same week.

And, despite insisting that he is removing any bias, Jamie Carragher has urged Newcastle to get rid of Isak before deadline day or else they will face the same ‘nightmare’ situation that Liverpool had back in 2011.

Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images

The Reds have enjoyed a lot of success on the pitch over recent years, although this has not always been the case.

During the 2010/11 season, the Reds endured some of their darkest days, with Roy Hodgson starting off as manager, before being sacked just six months later due to his terrible record.

Between that summer and the new year, Fernando Torres was reportedly ready for a move away but the club refused to let him go, something that sounds like it may have backfired.

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And, Carragher used this as an example of why Newcastle should sell Isak as wantaway players can have a serious impact on the overall mood of the first-team squad.

“We had this with Fernando Torres at Liverpool where he didn’t really want to be at the club, he ended up staying, and then we sold him in the January,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.

“That four or five months was a nightmare at the club and everybody couldn’t wait for him to move on.

“The reason for it is similar to Newcastle.

Newcastle are a club delighted to be playing in the Champions League, Isak is a player who wants to win the Champions League.

READ MORE: Thierry Henry delivers verdict on whether Rio Ngumoha should be playing more for Liverpool after Newcastle winner

“When we were going for the Champions League at Liverpool, we had some world-class players, as soon as our level dropped, people like Torres, Mascherano and Xabi Alonso wanted to leave.

When you have a player who doesn’t want to be there it can be an absolute nightmare.”

Torres got his move to Chelsea in January not long after Kenny Dalglish arrived, a move that benefitted the Reds a lot more than it did the Spaniard.

Everyone basically knew that Newcastle were never going to do a deal before facing Liverpool in gameweek two, with the Magpies not wanting to run the risk of having to come up against him.

Now, however, with the game over, if talks are going to accelerate and an outcome is going to be reached, now is the moment for this to happen.



There is less than a week left until the window slams shut and although Newcastle are still yet to find any replacements, they are going to have to make a snap decision or else things could get a lot worse.

Isak remains insistent that he will never play for the club again, meaning that keeping him is a huge risk, and if a ‘Torres situation’ starts to emerge, then they may just regret their choice should they not let him go now.