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It's clear that Isak wants the move to Liverpool, but regardless of what he and his agent throw at the issue, the inescapable fact is that he remains contracted to Newcastle for another three years.

Usually, a player's best leverage in the transfer market is the threat of ultimately walking away for nothing.

Even with near-limitless Saudi backing, Newcastle would be hugely reluctant to let that happen with Isak, given that cashing in for even a fraction of his value would ease PSR concerns for years to come.

But that threat holds no water for Isak just yet.

Does anyone genuinely believe that Isak — if denied a transfer — will just opt to sit on the sidelines for an absolute minimum of four months, and perhaps even longer?

The very reason he wants a transfer, as Eddie Howe has admitted, is that a footballer's career is short.

With that in mind, the usual transfer rules go out of the window.

What might this season look like for Newcastle if it sold Isak.

That does tend to make transfers complicated.

Liverpool's one hope

The one thing that has genuinely changed since the start of the transfer window is that nobody was counting on Isak and his camp pushing this hard for a move.
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