Gary Lineker names the biggest problem to have emerged from Alexander Isak’s Liverpool move

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Alexander Isak finally got his wish and managed to make his dream transfer to Liverpool.

Although he didn’t do it in the most admirable way possible, Isak finally got the Reds and Newcastle to agree on a deal worth around £125million.

This shattered the British transfer record fee, and although Liverpool spent a tad more than they initially wanted to, it’s hard to hide from the fact that he’ll be an impressive addition.

Indeed, this does beg the question of how Hugo Ekitike’s playing time is going to be affected, but since the Frenchman can be used on the left wing if needed, he should be more than fine.

Depending on who you ask, different people will have differing opinions on how Isak has handled things this term, with the vast majority of people not liking the way he forced himself out.

However, after what happened with Marc Guehi on deadline day, some have started to wonder whether the number nine was right to force his way out of St James’ Park.

Gary Lineker believes the fact that Alexander Isak got his move and Marc Guehi didn’t is bad for football

Throughout the vast majority of the summer transfer window, everyone has known that Isak was going to get his exit one way or another.

And the fact that his stance of not playing remained the same throughout the entirety of the window shows how serious he was.

While discussing Isak’s Liverpool transfer on the Stick to Football Podcast, Gary Lineker shared what he thinks the biggest problem to have emerged from the saga will be.

“I think a large amount of the problem is the fact that footballers are bought and sold, I mean, you don’t get that really in any other walk of life do you,” Lineker said.

“They’re treated a little bit like cattle, human beings getting bought and sold is a very sort of strange thing, it’s almost unique to football, even other sports, it just works differently to that doesn’t it.

“It’s something that we’ve become used to for so many years now, but, in reality, footballers should be allowed to go wherever they want.

“If you work in banking or something and another bank comes in and you get headhunted, well, you go and work for them if you want to work for them because you might get a bigger salary or something like that.”

Football has to change to make things fairer

If the 2025-26 summer transfer window has proved anything, it’s that, if you kick up a fuss, you’re more than likely going to get the move you desire.

Some prime examples of this are Isak and Yoanne Wissa. Both players were key cogs in their former teams last season, and although both got their teams decent transfer fees, they’d have likely wanted to keep them around for a tad longer.

Indeed, they’ve also managed to source decent replacements for those who have exited, but in reality, with the number of goals that Newcastle and Brentford will be losing, it’ll be hard for them to find ways to plug that gap.

However, for players such as Guehi, who went about everything correctly, it’s a tough pill to swallow, as all they did was get on with their jobs.

At the moment, it’s anyone’s guess what could happen, but if similar situations start to crop up as the years go on, it won’t be seen as much of a surprise.