There is another world, not so very different from this one, in which Newcastle took the pragmatic decision early in the summer that Alexander Isak was leaving, there wasn’t much they could do about it, and they might as well make the best of it: selling players at a profit, after all, is just what clubs on the rise have to do.
That was always true to an extent, but has become especially so in a world governed by profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). They could have taken the £125m, bought players at their leisure, and the sense going into the season would probably have been one of quiet satisfaction at a decent summer.
