Manchester City are in negotiations with Paris St-Germain over a deal for Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The asking price earlier in the summer was £26m for a player with a year on his contract and has been frozen out by his club. So the transfer fee – or severance package – needs to be right. Ederson to Fenerbahce only happens once City sign Donnarumma.
This is a ridiculous position for Newcastle to have got themselves into, so late in the window, especially as they spent most of the year insisting Isak would not be sold.
It will lead to accusations Newcastle’s owners have been weak. Having insisted the player would not be sold for months and even refusing to budge when the player issued a public statement demanding to leave on Instagram last week, Newcastle allowed their most important player to leave in the final hours of the transfer window.
There will be disappointment and some anger among supporters that Newcastle have buckled, but in reality the deal probably made sense in the end – as long as Newcastle can sign another centre-forward.
