The Alexander Isak transfer saga took a fresh twist after the Newcastle United striker was named in the PFA Team of the Year for 2024/25.
Isak did not attend Tuesday’s ceremony in Manchester amid his ongoing stand-off with the Carabao Cup winners and a desire to join Liverpool, who had an initial £110 million ($148m / €127m) bid rejected at the start of August.
However, the 25-year-old took this moment as an opportunity to address his future for the first time publicly.
“I’ve kept quiet for a long time while others have spoken. That silence has allowed people to push their own version of events, even though they know it doesn’t reflect what was really said and agreed behind closed doors,” Isak said in a statement published on social media.
“The reality is that promises were made and the club has known my position for a long time. To now act as if these issues are only emerging is misleading. When promises are broken and trust is lost, the relationship can’t continue. That’s where things are for me right now — and why change is in the best interests of everyone, not just myself.”
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The club issued a swift response. “No commitment has ever been made by a club official that Alex can leave Newcastle United this summer,” a statement read. “As explained to Alex and his representatives, we must always take into consideration the best interests of Newcastle United, the team and our supporters in all decisions and we have been clear that the conditions of a sale this summer have not transpired. We do not foresee those conditions being met.”
The situation has reached a very public impasse, with Yoane Wissa’s desire to join Newcastle from Brentford and Alejandro Garnacho’s designs on a switch from Manchester United to Chelsea continuing a theme of deadlock as the August deadline approaches.
So why don’t the likes of Isak, Wissa and Garnacho simply lodge transfer requests to speed things up?
Newcastle United Thailand
How does a transfer request work in soccer?
The reality is that most fans and a player’s teammates and manager will know if they want a transfer before a formal request arrives, given so many of today’s market news is reported blow-by-blow via various media outlets.
The individual in question might refuse to turn up for training, post social media shots from their home gym and then be placed in the “bomb squad” at their current club, working away from the first team with the looming threat that they “rot in the reserves”.
Some, all or none of these things might happen before a formal transfer request is submitted. There is no standardised mechanism through which this happens, although it will generally take the form of a legal document sent from the player’s representatives to the sporting director, CEO or chairman of the football club.
The transfer request typically details the reasons behind the player’s desire to breach their contract and their signature. A club is not obliged to accept a transfer request.
This last factor is an important one to weigh up because, while a transfer request might do nothing to accelerate a player’s exit from a club, it will lead to penalties if they stay.
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Why don’t some soccer players hand in transfer requests?
Put simply, players stand to suffer financial penalties if they submit a transfer request.
A formal demonstration of a wish to leave amounts to a breach of contract, meaning a player is no longer entitled to bonuses such as signing-on fees and loyalty payments.
For those playing in major competitions such as the Premier League, these can be significant sums. So much so that the antics outlined above — from social media outpourings to skipping training — are becoming more widely used as alternative tactics. Even though some of this behaviour might ultimately constitute a breach of contract, there’s room for interpretation and argument. A formal transfer request is a clear line in the sand.
A player’s agent might calculate that forgoing bonuses could persuade the club to accept a lower transfer offer, ultimately making the whole thing worthwhile. But for now, the traditional transfer request appears to have fallen out of fashion.
That’s why the likes of Isak, Wissa and Garnacho are yet to pursue that particular route, even though all have made it abundantly clear that they want a transfer.
