Wayne Rooney sends warning to Alexander Isak over Liverpool transfer collapse as second club joins race
Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has hit out at Alexander Isak amid his links to Liverpool and sent him a clear warning.
Despite the fact that the 2025/26 Premier League season is now underway, the biggest story in football right now could still be the ongoing saga between Newcastle star Isak and Liverpool.
As it stands, the Sweden international remains a Newcastle player, but he is refusing to train with his teammates in the hope that this will force to club to let him leave in the coming weeks.
However, with Liverpool yet to submit a second bid for Isak, after their first offer of £110m was rejected, and Newcastle yet to sign a replacement striker, a deal late in the window is looking less and less likely.
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But before we discover what will happen with Isak and Liverpool ahead of the transfer window closing on September 1, Premier League icon Rooney has issued a warning to the striker.
On Saturday afternoon, Newcastle got their season off to a lacklustre start as they drew 0-0 in an away clash with Aston Villa.
Although star player Anthony Gordon admitted that he was excited to start as striker in the match, many fans and pundits have stated that they believe Newcastle could have won the match if Isak, or another striker, had played.
And while discussing this with new Match of the Day host Mark Chapman, Rooney warned Isak about the dangers of his recent behaviour, as it could come back to haunt him if he's made to return to the Newcastle team.
He said: "The fact that he's refusing to come in and train, it's going to be very difficult for him to come back in.
"There's a trust element there, he's going about it the wrong way. Maybe he's getting advised wrongly.
"But also for the team who's trying to sign him, in this case it looks like Liverpool, you have to wonder is this the sort of player you want - who's going to desert his team-mates and a huge football club.
"It's a good opportunity but it has to be done in the right way."
Rooney then likened the situation to his public attempts to leave Manchester United, culminating in legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson announcing that Rooney had asked to leave the club at the start of the 2010-11 season.
He added: "There's the right way to do it and the wrong way.
"And I've been there myself when I've asked Manchester United to leave."
To which co-host Alan Shearer added: "But you put in a transfer request. You didn't refuse to train, you didn't refuse to play.
"So there is a way to do it and Alex is not going about it the right way at all and you have to feel sorry for the players and the manager
"You can imagine the anger that they're feeling that someone is taking the liberty of refusing to play. You can't do that when you've got a three-year contract."
Topics: Wayne Rooney, Alexander Isak, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Premier League, Transfer News, Football
Ben McCrum