Newcastle United fans don’t have much time for Liverpool after the Alexander Isak saga this summer, and they now have another reason not to like them.
The Reds finally got their man on deadline day, with Isak becoming the most expensive player in the history of English football, costing £125m.
It was a situation that became increasingly bitter as the summer went on, with Isak refusing to play in order to force through his move to Liverpool, and made to train alone by Eddie Howe.
Now, Parma CEO Federico Cherubini has told Gazzetta di Parma [via Sport Witness] that Newcastle also bid for Giovanni Leoni, only for the Reds to get him instead for less than they offered, due to them being his preference:
“I’ve always said we wanted to keep him, and he’s always said he’d be happy to stay here. We even turned down an offer from Newcastle, which was more advantageous than the one Liverpool eventually made.
“When the Reds came forward, our plans changed: both because the offer was very attractive and because the player made it clear he was very happy to take advantage of this opportunity.
“On the one hand, it’s disappointing to lose such a promising young player, but on the other, we’re proud to have believed in him in unsuspecting times, when he’d only played a few games in Serie B.”
An understandable decision by Leoni
It’s arguably a shame to see relations between Liverpool and Newcastle become so bitter, with no rivalry of much magnitude existing between the pair throughout history.
It is understandable why Magpies supporters feel the way they do about Isak, but ultimately, the Reds did little to nothing wrong in their pursuit of the Swede.
Like Leoni, Isak simply loved the idea of playing for Liverpool too good to turn down, which highlights the vast progress that the club have made over the past decade, under both Jurgen Klopp and Arne Slot.
Leoni is a young centre-back with an enormous amount of long-term promise, and the hope is that his decision to pick the Reds over Newcastle feels fully justified as the years pass.
