Alexander Isak became the most expensive player in the history of British soccer after joining Liverpool for a reported 125 million pounds ($170 million) from Newcastle on Monday, ending the summer transfer window’s biggest saga.
The 25-year-old Sweden striker finally got his wish after openly revealing his discontent at Newcastle in an explosive post on social media in which he claimed the club broke promises about an agreement allowing him to leave for Liverpool.
While agitating for the move, Isak trained away from the main Newcastle squad for weeks and missed the team’s first three Premier League matches of the season — including one against Liverpool.
Liverpool made a reported bid of 110 million pounds for Isak during the offseason and bided its time before coming back with a second, ultimately successful offer for the striker, who netted 23 goals in the Premier League last season to finish second in the scoring chart behind Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
That has been accepted by Newcastle, which failed last week — after talks with Isak — in a last-ditch attempt to keep him at the Saudi-controlled club.
The transfer was finally announced a few hours after the official closing of the summer window and Isak said it felt “amazing” to join Liverpool on what the team said was a “long-term contract.”
“It’s been a long journey to get here," he said. "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 it.
“I’m just happy it’s done and that I can get back to work. I’m looking forward to seeing my teammates and the fans, and getting back out there.”
In a terse, 37-word statement announcing Isak's departure, Newcastle confirmed it received a British-record fee, which surpasses the 116 million pounds ($156 million) paid by Liverpool for playmaker Florian Wirtz in July. That in turn superseded Chelsea’s purchase of Moises Caicedo for 115 million pounds ($146 million) in August 2023.
It makes Isak the fourth most expensive player of all time — in dollars — after Neymar (joined Paris Saint-Germain for $262 million in 2017), Kylian Mbappé (joined PSG for $216 million in 2018) and Philippe Coutinho (joined Barcelona in a deal worth $192 million in 2018).
Isak — born in Stockholm to parents from the small East African nation of Eritrea — joined Newcastle from Real Sociedad in 2022 and established himself as one of the best and most sought-after strikers in the world.
However, he informed Newcastle about a desire to explore his options away from St. James’ Park at the end of last season, saying in his post on Instagram that promises were broken and “trust is lost” with the club.
In a spat that went public, Newcastle released a statement denying making a commitment to selling Isak and effectively saying Liverpool didn’t put up a big enough bid in its first offer. The northeast club — an emerging power in English soccer after the Saudi-backed takeover in 2021 — was in a difficult position, faced with a disgruntled player essentially on strike, and has given in.
By signing two strikers in Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart and Yoane Wissa from Brentford, Newcastle spent the money earned from the Isak sale but at this stage they seem downgrades.
As for Liverpool, it’s the most expensive signing yet in a remarkable $570 million summer spending spree made on the back of winning a record-tying 20th top-flight English title. Among the others to join are Germany playmaker Florian Wirtz (for 116 million pounds; $156 million), young French striker Hugo Ekitike and full backs Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez.
The outlay has been offset by the Premier League champions selling the likes of Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Jarell Quansah. Liverpool also was quiet in the offseason last season as Arne Slot bided his time before overhauling the squad he inherited from Jurgen Klopp.
That revamp has been supercharged over the last two months, at considerable cost.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Newcastle's Alexander Isak celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the EFL Cup final soccer match between Liverpool and Newcastle at Wembley Stadium in London, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)
FILE - Newcastle's Alexander Isak celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during the English Premier League soccer match between West Ham United and Newcastle United at The London stadium in London, Wednesday, April 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
FILE - Newcastle's Alexander Isak, center, challenges for the ball with Manchester United's Casemiro during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Newcastle United, in Manchester, England, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Weathers was steamed when he found out he was joining the New York Yankees.
“I had had just finished up my bullpen and I get back to the house — I have like a little travel sauna,” he recalled Thursday. “I literally probably had sat on my couch for about two seconds and I got a phone call from Peter Bendix that I had been traded.”
Bendix, Miami's president of baseball operations, sent the 26-year-old left-hander to New York for four prospects on Tuesday: outfielders Brendan Jones and Dillon Lewis, and infielders Dylan Jasso and Juan Matheus.
Weathers is the son of David Weathers, a pitcher who helped the Yankees win the 1996 World Series after he was acquired from the Marlins at the trade deadline.
“We’ve kind of had a weird, similar paths as to how we got to New York,” Ryan Weathers said.
David was in the Dodger Stadium bullpen when he found out two minutes before the trade deadline he had been dealt to the Yankees. Manager Rene Lachemann called him on the bullpen phone and said Weathers needed to speak with general manager Dave Dombrowski.
“I went in the locker room and Kevin Brown, Al Leiter, John Burkett, Robb Nen, they said, `Hey man, good luck. You're going to win a World Series ring,' and they turned out to be prophetic,” David Weathers said.
David learned his son had been traded while watching a basketball game with wife Kelli at Loretto High School in Loretto, Tennessee, where he has coached baseball.
“One of my friends came up and said, `I think Ryan’s been traded to the Yankees.' And I said: `Well, if he has, I hadn’t heard anything about it,'" David recalled. "We laughed, and about that time my phone started ringing. It was Ryan.”
When Ryan makes his Yankees debut, they will become the fifth father-son duo for the pinstripes, joining Yogi and Dale Berra, Clay and Cody Bellinger, Mark Leiter and Mark Leiter Jr., and Ron Davis and Ike Davis.
Ryan was in shock when he spoke with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone.
“I just couldn’t believe that the New York Yankees were a team that I could ever have a chance to play for," he said.
New York’s rotation at the season's start projects to also include Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Luis Gil while Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón rehab from injuries.
Weathers, 26, was 2-2 with a 3.99 ERA in eight starts last year in his second straight injury-shortened season. He missed time with a strained left flexor, made his season debut on May 14, then didn’t pitch for Miami between June 7 and Sept. 11 because of a left lat strain.
He was 5-6 with a 3.63 ERA over 16 starts in 2024, when he was sidelined by a strained left index finger.
“This is the best I’ve probably felt in a year-and-a-half,” Weathers said. “I really did a dive and worked with company on figuring out how to lengthen my lat out, lengthen my back out. We really adjusted a lot of my lifting patterns. We really adjusted my mobility and my prep work, and I think my arm is reaping the benefits right now.”
Ryan grew up in big league clubhouses and remembered the Cincinnati Reds' room with Ken Griffey Jr. and Joey Votto. He played pickle with Dusty Baker, Ramón Hernández, Eric Milton and Juan Castro.
“There’s been a lot of hours put in the Cincinnati Reds' batting cages,” Weathers said. “I just remember Pops taking me to the field every day. I know when his arm was hurting, he’d still throw me BP.”
Ryan was the seventh overall pick by San Diego in the 2008 amateur draft and made his first big league appearance against the Dodgers in the 2020 NL Division Series — among only six players to make a major league debut in the postseason. His dad's knowledge helped him during tough times.
“When I first started going through it and getting adversity and getting traded, he really helped me along those lines of figuring out: This is what you do with your new team. This was what you do in your day-to-day,” Ryan said. “So I’ve been doing mechanics since I was age 10.”
He has remained close with pitcher Aaron Harang, a teammate of his father who last played in 2015.
“He still texts me all the time,” Weathers said. “When I was younger, I didn’t really care about pitching. I just wanted to hit bombs in the outfield, so I didn’t really think about it.”
For David, pitching in the World Series was less nerve-racking than being in the seats at Ryan's games.
“It’s way tougher being a dad and watching your son pitch than being a pitcher,” David said. “When he pitches, man, it is just like all day, it’s like I’m pitching. I’m thinking about what I would do, how I would attack these guys.”
Notes: New York finalized its $2 million, one-year contract with right-hander Paul Blackburn.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
FILE - Miami Marlins starting pitcher Ryan Weathers throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sept. 24, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson, File)
