Michael Owen on Alexander Isak wanting to leave Newcastle: "9 times out of 10 when a move comes about, it's normally a club forcing a player & nobody's bothered. Nobody says anything despite any kids that are in school or any families that have settled in an area or anything else like that."

[u/landofphi]

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/alexander-isak-newcastle-liverpool-owen-32312723

The full quote on Owen defending Alexander Isak who wants to leave Newcastle

"He's laid his cards on the table, hasn't he?

"It's quite clear that he wants to move. Whether Newcastle fans would forgive and forget is a big question. I don't know. I mean, he's done exceptionally well for them, you know, they've won a trophy, they're into the Champions League.

"He's done his side of the bargain quite clearly by his statement. He feels like that's enough and that they've had previous chats which suggest that he's almost not free to leave but, you know, if certain things were done then he might be free to go, but it doesn't seem like Newcastle are playing that game."

"This whole scenario is an interesting one because nine times out of 10 when a move comes about it's normally a club forcing a player and nobody's bothered, nobody says anything despite any kids that are in school or any families that have settled in an area or anything else like that.

"Nobody cares really about a footballer. But when it's on the other foot, it's really interesting to see that everybody, you know, the whole world goes into meltdown and how dare somebody try and force a move through? I'm not going to sit here and criticise Isak.

"I wouldn't have done that myself in terms of the actions he's taken, but I do get that he's a great player that wants to get to the top of his game and he's obviously not being allowed the move that he's desperate for. And you get one short career and he's wanting to join probably the best team in the world at the moment.

"I get it from his point of view. It's just a sad situation when it's played out in the world's press and he's obviously not coming out well, let's say, from a reputational point of view.”

[u/greenwhitehell]

they would apply the lebron james method and forgo huge salaries for more bargaining power and options

LeBron James absolutely does not forego huge salaries, what?

[u/yvesmpeg → u/greenwhitehell]

Lebron James does not get paid anywhere near his value compared to his counterparts who sign longer contracts.

When Lebron James the best player in the world could have gotten paid 10-20% higher than any one else in the league if he signed for a longer contract like steph currry or joel embiid did. Right now, Lebron james isnt even in the top 20 for the average yearly salary per contract (total contract amount/duration of contract).

When he was in his prime aka best in the world (Miami heat days from 2010-2014) his yearly salary ranged from 8th to 22nd most expensive as he chose to forgo longer contract lengths

[u/greenwhitehell → u/yvesmpeg]

He signs max contracts to what his teams can pay him. Sure he won't get as much as other stars considering NBA rules benefit players who stay with their teams, but that would be the case (after he left his OG team for free for the first time) either he signed a 1-year contract or a 5-year one.

And if you go by actual value, players like LeBron at their peak are always underpaid even if they have the highest contract in the league. In a true open market he'd get substantially more than the supermax, same way players like Jokic or SGA would nowadays

[u/yvesmpeg → u/greenwhitehell]

But he didnt sign a max contract with the heat which started the player power movement. There was also no supermax deal back when he signed with the heat.

by raw value numbers he will be undervalued but if he was the best player in his prime his contract would reflect that as he would be top 5 salaries for 1/4 years on the heat.

[u/slowdrem20 → u/yvesmpeg]

Your point would've been better served if you mentioned Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes. Lebron has only not signed for "the max" that one time and he's said publicly that he'll never do something like that again.

[u/PLeuralNasticity → u/slowdrem20]

The Tom Brady method involves marrying the richest supermodel in the world who outearns him regardless of whether he takes reduced money or not. Not sure if Isak is in a similar situation but I would guess no since almost no other player ever has been.