French legend comments on Isak's move to Liverpool: "That contract will end up as toilet paper"

Sharing his view on Alexander Isak’s transfer to Liverpool on talkSPORT, French football icon Emmanuel Petit stated that contracts between clubs and players today are no different from ‘toilet paper’ because the agreements have become extremely fragile.

After a long series of transfer events, Isak successfully joined Liverpool for a fee of 144 million euros. This followed a summer during which Isak refused to train and openly declared his desire to leave.

Liverpool had previously made an offer close to 130 million euros but were immediately rejected. Insider information from Anfield indicated they would not return to negotiations unless Newcastle showed genuine willingness to reach a deal. However, on the final day of the transfer window, Isak and Liverpool finally achieved their goal.

Commenting on the deal on talkSPORT, French football legend Emmanuel Petit expressed his discomfort with how publicly the situation unfolded and questioned the real value of contracts in modern football:

 “Contracts don’t mean much anymore. You can do anything with that piece of paper. It’s not important. In the end, it’s just business, just about money. Who cares?

Nowadays, everyone knows that even if you sign a seven-year contract, it can be as worthless as toilet paper within a few weeks.”

Part of the reason Petit disagreed with how Isak handled the situation is because Petit himself experienced something similar. After three seasons with Arsenal, winning the Premier League and FA Cup, Petit left to join Barcelona in the summer of 2000. However, he quickly realized that Barca was not a good fit. Instead of going on ‘strike,’ the World Cup champion respected the contract’s value and kept focusing on his job.

Petit shared:

“I come from a different generation. I signed a four-year contract with Barcelona in 2000. After a few months, I knew it was a mistake. But I didn’t ‘strike.’ I just had an honest conversation with the club. It had to be a mutually beneficial situation. We reached an agreement and parted on good terms.”

Isak had an impressive season at Newcastle, but the way he pressured for a move made many football experts like Petit question the value of contracts in modern football. Meanwhile, Newcastle quickly signed new players to ensure they wouldn’t be too affected by Isak’s departure.