Should Guehi have thrown a transfer tantrum like Isak?

0:02Gabby Logan:This is a Global Player original podcast. So the transfer window has closed and as I and many others feared, I think mostly wearing black and white, Alexander Isak's strike has paid off. Well Alex, it's done. You're a Liverpool player. Can you describe how you're feeling right now? I feel amazing. It's been a long, long journey, you know, to get here. But I'm super happy to be a part of this team, this club and everything it stands for. It's something I'm proud of and I'm really looking forward to. A statement signing by the champions then, just 24 hours on from their 1-0 win over Arsenal. The second time they've gone over£100 million this summer and they've broken the British transfer record.

0:51Isak's signing also took Liverpool's summer spending to£415 million, more than any team in Premier League history in a single window.

1:02Gabby Logan:Liverpool's owners, FSG, have famously run a balanced transfer budget for 15 years. So why have they made this big change in tack this summer? And what about the one player that Liverpool did miss out on, Crystal Palace and England defender Mark Gay, who, unlike Isak, did everything by the book and saw his big deal collapse. at the last minute. Will more players throw their toys out of the pram to force a move? And is that player power really a bad thing? Welcome to The Sports Agents.

1:38The Sports Agents with Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman.

1:45Hello, Mark. We have a big show today with the transfer window closing and we've got Troy Deeney coming in as well, which will be very exciting.

1:54Gabby Logan:Can I say hello back? Yes. Hi, Mark. You did almost have your coffee to your lips there. So I was going to let you just enjoy that for a second. I'll just sit back and listen. There we go. However, I just wanted to get in before we get into the whole drama of this transfer window. And it does feel more dramatic than we've had for many a year. I was doing a double header at the weekend at Franklin's Gardens for the Women's Rugby World Cup, starting with England Samoa on Saturday. And then on the Sunday, we had Ireland against Spain. And there were so many glorious moments in that game. England absolutely thrashed Samoa 92-3, as they're expected to do, the biggest score they've ever put out in a World Cup.

2:32But the Samoans had crowdfunded their way to get there. There were six of them who were parents, including parents of teenagers who they've left behind in Samoa. And they obviously really struggled to be in this World Cup. And the joy they got from their penalty, from their three points of the tournament, and the way the crowd embraced them as well. was just absolutely glorious. And to cap it all off, we had Chloe Kelly pop into the studio at half-time who had decided that she just really wanted to get behind this World Cup. I assumed, cynically, that I was going to say, here's Chloe Kelly, she's been brought here by Benson's Beds or whatever.

3:05You know what I mean? Not that you could do that on the BBC. Are they one of your sponsors? Are they even a business? I don't know. I might have made it up.

3:12Gabby Logan:I'm sure somewhere there is a Benson's Beds who are delighted at the moment. But no, she was just there because she wanted to be there and she wanted to support these women. And then she found herself being taken into the England dressing room afterwards and had a chat with her after we'd been on air. And she was just lovely. And she's a real superstar. And the way she talked about wanting women's sport to stick together. I wanted to come down and support the girls. I think as women's sports, we can really stick together and move in all our sports forward. And I hope that this World Cup can push on levels in the rugby world, in the rugby game.

3:46And the girls are inspiring so many in the stadiums, just like we did in 22, but I think as a whole we can support women's sport together. It was just a very, I think, antidotal moment actually, in what can be quite a cynical period in the football season.

4:02Gabby Logan:Yeah, a cynical period in the football season. You talk about the atmosphere there. We both wear different hats, don't we? And I am now already gearing up for Ryder Cup in New York and where it won't be a positive atmosphere. And Luke Donald named his team yesterday, So it's kind of got the juices flowing. But all I'm hearing now is it's going to be worse than ever. Yeah. And I think just that kind of when it's everything so about money, as it has been with this transfer window, and it just feels like the rich get richer and get more resources, you know, and the imbalance in the Premier League in that respect, it just felt really kind of wholesome having this joyous occasion on Saturday at Franklin's Gardens.

4:43And then Spain put up a really good fight against Ireland as well on Sunday, which was brilliant. Right.

4:47Gabby Logan:Don't come on here with your wholesome positive nonsense. Let's get back to cynical money grabbing, shall we? Please, though, do get in touch with us. Maybe you think all of this cynical money grabbing is absolutely a joyous thing to behold. If you do, send us an email, thesportsagentsatglobal.com, or you can get in touch on our socials or via the link in the episode description. And make sure if you can, you rate, follow and subscribe. It does mean a lot to us. But also, please give us tales of positivity and wholesome sporting things. We love it. I'll make those for the attention of Mark in the subject line.

5:25Gabby Logan:Thanks very much. So former Premier League player Troy Deeney is with us next to take stock. Probably also to do a TikTok. To do a TikTok, probably. Anyhow, he's going to talk about the new season and the transfer window and all of that. He's next. The Sports Agents Welcome Troy Deeney to The Sports Agents I think we've been trying to get this one well I think it's probably been going on as long and protracted as Alexander Isak to Liverpool hasn't it? No you know anything for you guys I'll always be here and just have to make sure the schedules are aligned you guys obviously are busy with Match of the Day and everything else that you do so thank you for having me Well this transfer window has been I think it feels like one of the most exciting certainly obviously in terms of the numbers but in terms of the movement as well that we've had for a very long time.

6:14Yeah, a massive focus on strikers as well, which has been good as well. I think it's a weird one. As an ex-striker, you're looking at it and other than Isaac, everybody else has got a striker and you're kind of like, is that really the striker you want? But they've spent an awful lot of money on these strikers. They're kind of having to do it. Xhocarez at Arsenal, personally, I think he's a good striker. I don't think he's the striker that gets you over the Man City or the Liverpools. You look around at Visser going, obviously, like he did to Newcastle. Straddall Larson, no one's talking about him.

6:45He's had his head turned and now has to stay Wolverhampton. And that's a punishment for anybody, isn't it?

6:52Gabby Logan:Says the bad... For those that don't know, you're saying that as a Birmingham man, aren't you? Oh, yeah. Oh, of course. Sorry. The accent didn't give it away. Sorry. You've lost your accent since you've done this round for so long. Yeah, I've tried my best. But Shesko as well? Yeah, Shesko, yeah. There are question marks, aren't there, over, as you say, over virtually every striker signing. I mean, even Isak, I suppose, there aren't question marks over his productivity and how he delivers and how he has delivered for Newcastle. I suppose his arrival just gives good questions about how he fits in, where he fits in, what happens to the other players in that forward line, what options Liverpool now have.

7:36Yeah, I think it's more of a functional fit, isn't it, with him? Does he upset Etiquite? Does Etiquite then go on the left and he upsets Gapho? And how does it all rotate and work? That's the beauty of what Liverpool have done. I think with Liverpool, they get somebody that comes in, scores goals straight away. He got 23 last year. I think he missed... He's already baked, isn't he? Yeah, but he also missed, what, seven, eight games last year as well for injuries in different times. So you know what you're getting. He's got to be fit. He's available. A lot of talk today, whether it be match fit and ready.

8:08He knows this Liverpool move's happening. So mentally, he's already prepared. I think he already got out of his Newcastle house as soon as he sent that message on Instagram, didn't he? He thought, better get out of dodge there as quick as possible. So when you talk about Seshko, it's just another one where they had to get a striker in. Right, let's go for the young, big one and hope he sticks. I was talking to Jermaine Defoe about this a couple of days ago. I'm probably the last of the generation that played with two up front and yeah one time you'd play with a 36 year old and then I had to do all the running and the next week I would be the one that had to run in behind and then the week after that I'd be the target man because I'm playing with an 18 year old now everything has changed to like the striker really just has to stand in the six yard box they're more like poachers what we would have called it back in the day as opposed to all round strikers so for me it's really strange to see you know people that can't play with their back to goal but that's a foundational thing I got taught at like eight years old so just on that

9:08Gabby Logan:do you think do you think signing Isak might change that for Liverpool then because I was reading an article yesterday about Eketike and how he performed at Eintracht Frankfurt and one one of the ways that they actually worked at Eintracht Frankfurt was he played up front with Marmouche who's now at Manchester City and they played as a two but Eintracht Frankfurt were then sort of a formation of 4-2-2-2 if Liverpool were to kind of replicate that then you wonder where Salah fits in but maybe this is all part of the evolution over time and is it also increasing a squad that can compete on more fronts because the one thing that Arnaz Slott did last season was change his team less than anybody else but also fell short then in especially in the Champions League because of, you know, playing the same team kind of weekend.

9:56They also went out to the team that fundamentally won it as well in PSG. I don't think anyone realised just how good they were at that point. I can see a situation. If they'd have got Mark Gahey, where they played 5-3-2 after this year, and maybe Sal Salah, they brought two centre-backs in, which would suggest that they want to play a three. You've got the full-backs or wing-backs in Frimpong and Kerkers, who are more attack-minded. and then you've got the midfield, which is based to have a 10. That's why they brought Wurz in. And then you could have the two up front. So I think they are working towards that.

10:28But I just think when you look at Ekeke, I say it wrong every time. Yeah, Ekeke. Ekeke, that's it. That's why you're the presenter. He naturally played on the left, actually, for a lot of his time in Frankfurt. It was only that one season, wasn't it, that he played up front with Marmou. So again, I think he then goes over to where Gatpo's playing. Them two keep each other fresh and fit. and then you have you know Isak who if he's fit and available starts every single week Can we have a look at the bigger picture of why Liverpool have decided to kind of break the bank and spend in a way that we've not seen them do before £415 million Christian Perslow on Sky Chappers you saw this didn't you when he talked about he thinks that PSR rules are going to be changing My sense is Liverpool are making hay

11:15Gabby Logan:while the sun shines going for it really loading up on talent to put themselves in a position where they're virtually impregnable while everything is behind them. The rules to me are just weird. What we have now in the Premier League, the majority are billionaire owners. We still don't have a solution on what's happening with Man City. What's that, 107 million different charges that they're never going to get done for. Arsenal, who are just spending. Chelsea just selling laptops for 10 grand to each other. It's mental. these rules don't make any sense so it's like when I look at Liverpool they're the only ones that came through this period in the top six with a net profit weren't they Chelsea yeah 3 million yeah was that another hotel sold no that was all players that was the under 12 boys oh was it under 12 yeah and the car park they saw the car park as well but no I just think look I think they're all very wealthy people they all figure out ways to get around it but Liverpool didn't do anything last year they've got it in reserve maybe because they were looking at this is a big enough squad to go get after next year but they would have got Gehi for 35 million pounds yesterday if Christopher Palace didn't pull the plug at the last minute that's unbelievable unbelievable there are sort of couple of things you Gabby you know you met you mentioned Christian Perslow so I was trying to get a bit more info and detail of what he was thinking and he says he said to me that he thought Liverpool have seen that over the over the last however many years that if you take the so-called top six six into four champions league places isn't always going to come out on your side you're gonna you're gonna lose out every now and then if the rules are to change and that allows more money to be spent by villa newcastle i don't know maybe everton with their new owners all of a sudden you've maybe got nine teams trying to get into five places so the odds get worse and if Liverpool have got hedge fund manager owners as Troy says with their logic and what they demand and metrics and how they use it what a perfect opportunity this summer as the champions of England with arguably one of the best chances to win the Champions League when you look at everybody else around Europe they've had the perfect opportunity to not only go for it bringing players in, but also the opportunity to weaken some of those opponents who might be a threat to them.

13:39Gabby Logan:Newcastle being one of them, it's kind of like being a perfect storm for them. There's a really good article on the Sky Sports app here about how Liverpool have managed to do this and finances, but there's an amazing stat in there, Gabby, that the last decade, transfer spending since 2016-17 till now, the net spend, Liverpool are seventh. Even after this transfer window they are seventh on net spend over the last decade who was top chappers united atop and then chelsea right but hang on right i know i know you're trying to mind me up you're not gonna right united atop chelsea a second arsenal a third top number fourth manchester city a fifth do you know who was i mean obviously it's gonna be somebody a little bit surprising do you know are sixth on the net spend over the last decade in the Premier League?

14:31Gabby Logan:Brighton. No. Aston Villa. No, similar colours. West Ham. West Ham. Wow. West Ham sixth in net spend. Liverpool are behind them. You mentioned, Mark Gahean, what a bargain that would have been for Liverpool at£35 million. Obviously, it didn't work out in the end and he will be a free agent come the summer. Oliver Glasner as intimated that, or we've heard that, you know, had he gone, you know, that would have been the end for him as well. There's a few managers who've come onto the market in the last few days as well. He'd probably be sniffing around that job. But, you know, for him as a player, what do you think that does in terms of the rest of his season, how he approaches it?

15:13I mean, he seems like a very sensible professional. Yeah, he takes it all in his stride, doesn't he? I was thinking about this last night because if you saw how he reacted after the Aston Villa game, he was very much like conscious of cameras are going to be on him. Don't do too much with the fans. Don't give them anything to read into. And I thought that was really classy of him. I just think when you've been told you're going, you've gone through the medical procedure, it's all on just basically sign it off. Does your head just turn a little bit more to getting excited and thinking about it?

15:47Maybe today I think he's probably gone a little bit emotional in himself thinking, what if? But I think he'll be in a great situation. The conversation I was having on the way here today was, do you think Liverpool can still get him? If he has a good season with Palace, the way he is at the moment, as a strong World Cup, does he not open himself up then as a free to Real Madrid, Barcelona, all these massive, huge clubs now that Liverpool kind of miss out on? Because there's going to be no fee. So it's going to be who can give him the most wages and signing on for. So should Liverpool have just thrown a bit more?

16:21I don't think Liverpool can do any more. I think it's solely on what Glasner did to Crystal Palace to say, right, if he goes, I go. And then I think if you're Steve Parrish, what do you do? You don't want to lose two of your best players and your manager. And he comes back in. I mean, he's never been out and he's never done, he's never thrown his toys out the pram. Yeah, he's been excellent. Yeah. So there's no sense of having to kind of, you know, re-assimilate himself with his teammates. The fans will be just so adoring for being there as well for the rest of the season, won't they? It'd be in a great position if he really wanted to, to get whatever he wanted in a deal.

16:51If he wanted to stay. If he wanted to stay, yeah, he could ask for whatever he wanted, though. But then that doesn't seem to be the way he operates, does it? No, he wants to leave, he wants to push on, but I think he wants to do it respectfully. And I think that's quite a refreshing thing to see, isn't it? When you see all of this, the antics of Isaac and Visser at the end, because I know Visser, he's a really nice boy as well, so that would have been... Were you surprised at the way he behaved? Yeah, but I think that was, you've got to do this if you want to get out. like Brentford aren't going to sell you unless you you let it be known that you want to go and I think that was the kind of the dark arts that happen between agents and clubs at the end

17:29Gabby Logan:there are dark arts oh yeah in in every direction aren't there I mean I was with Joe Hart yesterday and he was he was incredibly clear that he wasn't on Isak's side with how Isak behaved over over the transfer but he his point was it works both ways does does all of this and and there are clubs who can treat you terribly it doesn't make anybody's behavior right but in every single direction there seem to be dark art and actually that's the that's the astonishing thing with the whole mark gay thing is that they don't appear to be any dark yeah well you talk about the dark arts look at nicholas jackson i know it would get brushed under the carpet because he ended up getting what he wanted but from a player's point of view you you was starting striker in may by the end of may you're number three they tell you they want to get rid of you for a certain price you agree that price for Bayern Munich you're posting the pictures on on the private jet with your agents like we're done we're going by the time you land actually no no turn the plane around that's done and cancelled that's the that's the club saying no no we're pulling that rug from under you he didn't do any dark arts in that situation but imagine mentally what that would have done for the player.

18:41No one really talks to that. And I totally take Joe Hart's point in Izak. But fundamentally, everyone got what they wanted. Liverpool got 125 million guaranteed plus whatever. He gets his move. Everyone's happy. If you stand back and look at this, how you as a player go back in, it's a team sport, right? And how do you become a team again when you have these kinds of movements going on that come and go and players looking very individualistic, And especially what's amazing about Crystal Palace and Gay, actually, is that that's a team that last season had this incredible, you know, double trophy winning season in the end.

19:18And it looked like a team. Are we giving the charity shield, the community shield now? Yeah, it's a trophy. It's a trophy, yeah. Are you an Arsenal fan? Are you Arteta's PA? Is that what we're doing now? Sorry. I feel like we've got to get into Arsenal at some point. Yeah, we will. Just for the clips, because they're going to be gold dust. but I you know I mean maybe I'm a sporting purist too much but like where's the team in all this you know and the Palace it's great because that almost further cements them as a team doesn't it that are kind of like you've got this player who's behaved well and it's going to be easy for him yeah but I think like any athletes we've got a very quick you know forget reset button that it doesn't it doesn't matter what happened is what how do you act when you're with us and I've been there where players are leaving I remember I could tell this story because he won't mind it but we had Ben Watson was playing for us, we travelled away to Stoke and he was starting the day of it we did all the set pieces he was taking the set pieces so we get to the hotel the night before the game go down for the late snack, cereal or whatever and he was in there and he was like you know when someone just looks confused and perplexed.

20:32I was like, you're right, mate, what's happening? He's like, they've sold me. I was like, a big pardon? He's like, yeah, sold me. I'm like, mate, you're starting? You're taking the three kicks in the corners? We've been through it? No, no, no, they've just told me I'm going. So I'm just waiting on the taxi to pick me up. He ended up signing for Nottingham Forest. And we had to call. He left that night. No one knew other than myself and I think it was Ben Foster. We both went down for a bite to eat. and yeah he went in a taxi and they've sent up an under 18 under 18 was on the bench we changed and the next morning so hi guys yeah so we've got to do all those set pieces again and that's how it works and Ben was great with us as a person so again that reset button well we've lost one of our good teammates but there's a game tomorrow or this day so who cares it's just what happens and yeah sport is especially football it's the most ruthless sport in the world like someone goes it's like oh that was great get him out of the group chat then what we do next and that's the show it is

21:35Gabby Logan:yeah but that's but isn't that you know and this isn't a matter this isn't a big thing on the sporting level but I suppose it is on a human level is normally when people leave your places of work who have been a popular member of the team you know there are proper goodbyes done and he just he left in the middle of the night you know you have a shared goodbye doing all is that why you told us on radio one that when you left you went to the toilet and never came back Yeah, absolutely. That's the old Irish exit. I love it. By the way, that wasn't at the Leaving Do. That was on the show. Oh, brilliant.

22:06Gabby Logan:I knew we'd get along, chappers. Yeah, I just didn't want to leave a do. It's that they're embarrassed. I was like, oh, God. It's just a lot easier to lock yourself in the toilet and never come out. And then somebody you've got on really well with, you might not see again until you play them again. Yeah, until you play them or in certain situations, never see them again. And you might see them on Instagram. and you go, oh yeah, I remember that guy actually because he popped up on like... Yeah, we shared our deepest, most intimate thoughts one night. Yeah, yeah. There's loads of things that you get up, like you have chats on the bus and there's certain times, obviously, you might be in a drug testing room together and it takes three, four hours and you just start chatting.

22:43There's all sorts that you go through and yeah, it just is in one morning, out the next. And I was at Watford and that was with managers as well. So yeah.

22:52Gabby Logan:It might have been six months, didn't it? Six months would have been nice. and there's more from Troy after the break the Sports Agents

23:03Gabby Logan:the Sports Agents with Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman so now they've now they've got Isak to go back to that does that make them even more certainties for the title for you? Yeah I think so when you look at they haven't played great have they so far they're unbeaten they keep scoring and even in the big game against Arsenal they could shut up shop everyone was saying that they you know they look defensively weak they were excellent so I just think there's a mentality with Liverpool that they've got now that Man United and the cities used to have which was just get the job done because at some point we're going to start playing well it's going to click but if not just get the job done it did take a moment of brilliance yeah to get the three points from that game and Arnazsla himself said play that game 10 times there's eight draws and there's one piece so So, you know, for Arsenal fans who are listening, I'm sure you're going to give them some hope and some reassurance that they're...

24:00Yeah, they bought another defender. That was good. That they are in a title race this year? They will be. It'll be like the title race of last year. They'll come second, but nowhere near Liverpool again. We're not going down to the final day? No, I think when you look at... For it to be a title race, who's going to score more than Isak or Salah from any of the other teams? arguably Haaland that's it if you look over the last nine years the team that wins it has always got somebody in the top three goal scorers I think Liverpool this year could have both they could have number one and number two or number one and number three I don't think Jacare scores more than they need to I think defensively they're solid and they will be great but if you keep relying on set pieces teams will just do what Liverpool did which was put the small man on Gabriel as soon as he breaks through that he runs straight into Subosla and now we go and let the big boys go and head it.

24:52So Arsenal had a year, maybe 18 months of being able to be that surprise package because they've got great delivery and they've got people that want to head it. Now, the same way it used to be with Man City, everyone's watched, studied and gone, right, this is how we stop them. The team will only go as far as Saka. Unfortunately, now he's injured, both for Arsenal and for England. But if Saka doesn't play, that team's not what we thought it was going to be.