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Alexander Isak has been criticized by Louis Saha for the way his transfer to Liverpool unfolded.
The Swedish striker became a Newcastle United favourite before finding himself at the heart of a prolonged summer transfer saga between the Magpies and Liverpool. Newcastle remained firm that its key forward wasn't available and rejected the champions' opening offer.
But after Isak essentially downed tools and released a damning social media post declaring his intention to depart, he ultimately secured his desired move, sparking widespread condemnation, including from his former boss Eddie Howe.
Liverpool shelled out a British record $169 million to secure Isak, who may make his Reds bow against Burnley on Sunday. A comparable impasse occurred between Yoane Wissa and Brentford before the Congo international completed his switch to Newcastle as one of Isak's replacements.
The nature of the transfers left former Manchester United and Newcastle forward Saha unimpressed, believing the behaviour of certain players and representatives is diminishing the sport. Saha told Gambling.com: "Yeah, that's sad [Isak and Wissa forcing moves to other clubs].
"Football has been taken away. The values are being taken down. That's football today, and it's the same for managers. Sometimes you can get sacked for two or three bad games.
"So there are a lot of elements where the commercial aspect has been very ruthless and not nice. This is why the agents may have said to those guys, 'I don't care about your image, do the thing that's going to get us the move,' and he [the agent] is not getting exposed."
Saha also believes certain players might feel pressured to act contrary to their own instincts, explaining: "I'm sure that the players want to respect the team and the players around them [in the club they want to leave].
"But this is a strategy, and those guys are forced to do things they may dislike. I remember myself being in a situation where I was asked to do something like this, to request to move or something like this.
"This is my limit. I want to play and respect the players. So I think it's sad, but it is what the world is now."
Having featured in no competitive club matches this campaign, Isak is expected to start his Liverpool journey amongst the substitutes. Meanwhile, Wissa must postpone his Newcastle bow after being sidelined for the home encounter against Wolves due to injury.
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