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Anthony Elanga never got to play with his compatriot at Newcastle. Following a record deadline day transfer to Liverpool, many Swedish flags at St James' Park have had to be edited in a hurry, with Alexander Isak's name blotted out and replaced with the summer arrival from Nottingham Forest.
Incredibly, The Telegraph has said that signing Isak's "friend and teammate" Elanga was part of a plan to convince him to stay by impressing him with summer transfer business. But much like the plan to pair him with Hugo Ekitike — a partnership we will now be treated to at Anfield instead — it all ended in tears.
However, in a twist of fate, Isak's first games post-transfer will be alongside Elanga. Straight after completing the formalities of his move to Liverpool, the forward was back on a plane, jetting off for Sweden duty.
They may feature together as early as today. However, there is a slight complication stemming from the fact that Isak has essentially been on strike all summer.
While he has been training throughout his self-imposed exile, at one stage returning to his old club Real Sociedad to use the facilities there, he is severely short of match fitness. He did not feature at all throughout Newcastle's preseason campaign.
As a result, the Sweden boss Jon Dahl Tomasson has revealed that he will proceed with caution. Isak is expected to feature from the bench (if at all) against Slovenia.
Even so, Elanga has not been able to avoid questions from the media about Isak's move, and how it has all gone down back at Newcastle. And despite the foaming rage of many of the fans, the winger has claimed that the dressing room has been "chill":
"It has been chill," Elanga insisted, via The Mag. "He had a contract with us and now he’s with Liverpool.
"We all think he is a very good player. We lost a good player but we also signed good players — hopefully we can look forward and focus on this season."
Risking the wrath of his new supporters, Elanga also dubbed Isak a "fantastic player and a very good person". He wished him luck with his move to Anfield.
However, he also reiterated his own happiness to have joined Newcastle. It has been a rocky start, with the Magpies 17th in the league after three games and with just two points on the board — but Elanga praised the performances.
"We have started well in the first three games, it’s just a shame that we haven’t won," he admitted. "But I’m happy with my choice.
"We have good players, very good leaders and hopefully we can have a good season. I want to win everything."
That lofty goal will certainly be made more complicated by the absence of Isak, with Liverpool's aims of achieving that ambition receiving a healthy boost. The hope on Tyneside will be that Elanga, along with Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa, can go some way to filling the void.
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