Tbh, Isak staying at Newcastle could work out well for everyone except Isak.
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A twist in the transfer market: money is no longer the most important thing.
Liverpool has become the latest to suffer the rejection of a stratospheric offer: Saudi and Qatari properties are changing the course of the European market and millions are no longer enough.
Marc Marín
July 18, 2025, 8:22 PM
The transfer market has entered a new dimension. We’re more than accustomed to the millions paid for any footballer, no matter how young or how few games they’ve played at the top level. The emergence of Saudi Arabia has also had an impact on this aspect. But in recent years, a new factor affecting transfer windows has been growing by leaps and bounds , meaning that sometimes all the money in the world isn’t enough.
Beyond Saudi Arabia, the Premier League consistently stands out as one of the most attractive leagues for footballers . The amounts paid in England are within reach of very few European teams, who see their stars pack their bags summer after summer to head to British football.
For example, Villarreal and Real Betis (fifth and sixth in LaLiga) have each spent €17 million so far this summer . Meanwhile, the three newly promoted Premier League clubs have already invested €225.45 million (€115.9 million for Sunderland, €73.95 million for Burnley, and €35.6 million for Leeds United).
An insurmountable wall
Despite England’s economic power being light years ahead of other top-flight leagues, there’s an insurmountable barrier, even for teams like United and Liverpool. We’re talking about the Middle East. We’re not referring to the leagues or the countries themselves, but to the ownership of clubs originating in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
And there are times when not all the millions in the world are enough to sign a player. That problem doesn’t exist in LaLiga, as buyout clauses are the starting point for negotiations in most cases. And if a rival decides to pay it—like Barça for Joan García, for example—there’s nothing you can do.