Would Alan Sell Alexander Isak For £150m?
25:22 Share

This episode is brought to you by Greater Miami and Miami Beach. With so many new experiences in Miami, you'll need new words just to describe them. Take a walk on your adventurous side with Miami's vibrant local art scene. Treat yourself to a deluxe outing filled with opulent shops and Michelin-starred meals. Or decompress on a fitness scape with an array of fitness fun and a trip to the spa. Create your own adventures and new words to describe them when you find your Miami.

Right now, up to 55% off your Babbel subscription at

babbel.com slash Spotify podcast spelled B-A-B-B-E-L dot com slash Spotify podcast. Rules and restrictions may apply. Hello and welcome to the Rest is Football with Micah Richards, Alan Shearer and me, Gary Lineker. Thank you again for your questions that you've sent in. As always, there's some good ones, some really challenging ones and some fun ones. I think we'll enjoy them. Let's start straight away with Harry, H-A-R-R-I.

If you could each get any footballer, past or present, on the pod, who would you choose? Love the podcast. Thanks, Harry. Oh.

Brazilian Ronaldo for me. He would be great actually. His English is pretty good as well. He would have stories about the World Cup and what happened to him before the game. I mean, it's unbelievable. So yeah, Brazilian Ronaldo. I'm going to throw in Jude Bellingham. Mike has promised us he was going to get Jude on. Oh yes, time ticket. Jude, who I don't know, did you notice at the weekend, I think it was Friday night, last Friday night, obviously this is Wednesday, he

He missed a penalty, a rare failure for Real Madrid. And then what does he do? Scores the winner in the 95th minute. What a man, what a player, what a talent. I'd love to get him as a guest on the pod. So come on, Micah, make it happen for us. Who would I like on the pod? Hmm.

It's a difficult one because it was entertaining. Maybe you could get Zabaleta on and ask him why he nicked his spot. Great shout. Great shout. Pablo, lovely guy. Lovely guy, proper fullback.

You know, I'm going to go with Ronaldinho. I heard he's a bit of a party animal. Does he speak English? Because obviously if we get him on the podcast, it's tricky. You could have it translated now easily. Exactly, yeah. Ronaldinho, yeah. What a player. What a wonderful, wonderfully gifted. Oh, absolutely top. Brilliant. Right, next question. Sam Hillier says,

After that brilliant live episode sponsored by Guinness, would you ever do a live tour perhaps around the UK? I think that would be quite fun, actually. Wouldn't it? It would be good luck. When are we doing it, boys? When are we doing it? Could we drink now? I'm only signing up if we could drink. LAUGHTER

I don't think there's any restrictions on probably that, Micah, given the fact the way we did the Euros. Ooh, cooking up the stove. But the stove, no, there's no pots to go in the stove. Oh, you're out your cupers, though. It's got to be tested. Oh!

Oh, Keane Elgas. He can't play away from home. Look at him. And we did the live one. We were getting stuck into the Guinness, so that was all right. Perhaps we could do something next summer because this obviously is not a major tournament beyond the Club World Championship, but we'll see how that transforms. Drink responsibly, please, guys. Always drink responsibly. Always drink responsibly, especially when pissed.

Matt, what's the best goal you've seen the team you support scored? I.e. best Newcastle goal Alan has seen, best Leicester goal Gary has seen, best goal by God knows for Micah, he said. Let's go Man City. I know mine. I got mine straight away. I'll go with mine while you have a little thought. I saw this question earlier and I thought, Jory Teelamans.

FA Cup final, 1-0, top corner from 25 yards. I mean, you're not going to better that, I'm sorry, because you've got to take into account the occasion, the first time Leicester had ever won the FA Cup.

Beautiful. And the other one I perhaps had was Bivardi's volley against Liverpool that came over his shoulder and he smashed it in when he was on that run to break Van Nistelrooy's record. Can you remember the Newcastle goal at Stamford Bridge on the half-volley slicer? Was it Sissi? Yeah.

Was it Papacise? Yes! Papacise, yes. Incredible goal, yeah. He made that half-volley from the corner. How on earth he got that? I mean, that was an un... I think that got goal of the month or goal of the season, I'm not sure. It should have if it didn't. Anyway, it was an unbelievable goal, yeah. That was against Chelsea, wasn't it? Away, was it? It generally is at Stamford Bridge. I didn't hear it! Yay!

You twat. Alano, I remember that one. That was good. Against Newcastle. I was right behind it. The free kick. Wow. Sensational. Pace, drive, swerve, bend all into one. Top corner. Cannot believe you didn't go.

Aguero! That has to be it. I know you weren't on the pitch, you were on the bench moping, but even then it was, it was, oh, incredible moment. Right. Paul Jennings asks,

Hello.

A lot of the big clubs are in it and it's more of a World Cup kind of setup. We know that we see, don't we, the Club World Cup, whatever it's called, that the teams that win in the Europe Champions League and the teams that win down in South America play generally in Japan or nowadays in Saudi or somewhere. So I will monitor it. This could end up being a big thing. But, but, the big but is the amount of... I mean, it's...

The amount of football that players, I know they're well recompensed, I know, but that's not the point. The point is you want players to be fit and fresh because people pay good money to watch football and they don't want to watch tired footballers. I do worry about where's the cutoff point?

I think Rodri talked, didn't he, publicly about it. Alison as well, I believe. And it's difficult for players to voice their concerns because people always will throw the money at them and they get that. But it's not about the players. It's more about, I think, the entertainment factor. And if you've got tired footballers, you're not going to get great football. And by the way, have you seen this price of the tickets? I thought, I think I saw it on BBC News yesterday.

Last week, price of ticket, I think the cheapest one, if I'm correct in saying, was around about 700 quid. What? Seriously. Really? I was like, oh my word, it's incredible. I mean, it'll give us something to talk about in the summer. We will watch it though, won't we? Oh, you can't not watch it because a lot of big clubs are in it. Of course, yeah. Okay. Stuart McFarlane.

What differences are there working for the different TV networks channels? Does working for the BBC bring more pressure as there's more time to fill due to no adverts? Well, that's certainly the case in live games. Match of the day is a different thing. It's structured. So let's talk about the difference between live games covered on the various channels. I think there are both advantages and disadvantages to being with the BBC. The advantages are when you've got a really good game, say at halftime,

it's great because you've got time. Whereas on Sky or TNT or wherever anywhere else is that has commercials, you know, it's when they earn their money at half time. So they'll get five minutes of ad, ads, three minutes of chat or four minutes of chat and then five minutes. Now, if you've got a great first half, it's really difficult. I've been there when I worked for BT doing the Champions League and sometimes it's really frustrating. You want to talk to something about length and you can't do it half time.

In those circumstances, when we do the FA Cup with BBC or World Cup matches or European Championship games with the national sides, we have time. The problem comes with having 15 minutes of half time is when the game's an absolute dog and there's nothing that's happened and you've got to kind of fill. But then it's just talking football so you can always manage it. You do, well, you both do both. So how do you find the differences? That's the main difference. I mean, with football,

PLP, you're on a lot earlier before. You've got sometimes an hour build-up, which enables you to do a lot more analysis and then you've got time afterwards. And similar with Amazon, that's a big difference, the time you've got before and after the game. It's different. You've got different producers, I think, and directors, and I won't name them all, but at CBS you've got Matt Curtis and Pete Radovich who...

are really good at what they want from the show. So I know I can do stuff on CBS that I couldn't probably do on the BBC and vice versa. Does that talk about breasts? LAUGHTER

Basically, yeah. I think it does help you because I've learned so much different... So many different skills, I would say. Working with different people, um...

But yeah, it all depends on who you're with as well, you know, because I remember at times where we've had to go on the iPlayer at BBC and we've just had to basically fill and we've gone into like a podcast mode or whatever it is. I just enjoy it all. I think Richard Hughes at the BBC, Gavin as well, they're exceptional.

Um, the guys at Sky as well, with all the, the, the breaks you've got, um, Jack, you've got Sean as well. I'll work with a lot. I'm sorry if I've not named you, I'm not going to name everyone, but I just think everyone's got a different way of doing TV, you know? So, um,

I just love it. There's nothing better for me. And people always say, do you never get nervous? And like, yeah, you might mix up your words. You might say a wrong name and all that, but I just embrace all of that stuff. You know, you're talking about football. I think we've got enough knowledge to talk about football. People won't always agree with our opinions, but I just love it. Absolutely love it. I think you're talking way too much. Let's take a break. LAUGHTER

This is a paid advertisement from BetterHelp. January can be a tricky time of the year for a lot of people. With the new year comes plenty of new opportunities and that can be overwhelming for many. There's a lot of pressure to make improvements for the upcoming year and to be seen to be starting afresh. But life isn't about resolutions that fade by February. It's about making realistic, sustainable goals that can make real change.

If 2025 is a new chapter waiting to be written, then think of therapy as your editorial partner, helping you write new chapters and create the meaningful story you deserve to live. There are so many benefits to therapy, such as learning positive coping skills and how to set boundaries. And it's not just for those who've experienced major trauma. It really can help everybody.

Write your story with BetterHelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com slash restfootball. That's betterhelp.com slash restfootball.

Hi, everyone. It's Katty here from the Rest is Politics US. Anthony Scaramucci and I want to tell you about our new series that looks at one of the darkest days in modern American history, the Capitol riots of January the 6th. You know, four years have passed since Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building and tried to overturn the 2020 election results. And Katty and I are going to explore the tensions and the

personalities at the heart of that storm. Yeah, we're going to look at the whole story, starting off with, of course, the 2020 election result itself, Joe Biden's victory, Donald Trump's attempts to undermine that result right up until January the 6th and those horrifying scenes that all of us watched on television back then. So don't miss it. Go and search The Rest Is Politics US, wherever you get your podcasts, to hear just how Donald Trump tried to defy

American democracy. And we've included a clip from the series for you to listen to at the end of this episode. Welcome back to the Rest is Football question and answer episode with Micah Richards, Alan Shearer and me, Gary Lineker. I like this question. Michael Waring. If Liverpool win the league and Nottingham Forest finish second, who...

He says would win manager of the season. Perhaps we should rephrase that slightly to who should win manager of the season. I think Arnie Slott would win manager of the season because that's how it goes. But... Some people had Forrest for relegation. So from going from there to finishing second would be an unbelievable achievement. So... I've no idea what you're talking about here. But carry on. Slott would win it. Yeah.

And yeah, I would probably vote for him as well. Because not many people other than Liverpool fans, I guess, would have tipped Liverpool to win the title this year. But Man City have fallen off so much. That's not their fault. Yeah, but the only team Liverpool have had to go up against with an unbelievable squad...

as we've seen, and Slots made some really good tactical tweets. But, you know, Espirito Santo, to finish second. We had to, no, we all had them fighting for survival. Some daftity had them going down. LAUGHTER

I'm never ever going to live this down. I'm glad though. It's great. It's great. Okay. Yeah. I think it's, well, let's see if it happens. Very hypothetical at the moment. Tom Hickling.

Oh, it is a wonderful one. Would Alan take £150 million for Isaac from Arsenal? If you got the £150 million, you wouldn't, would you? No, is the answer. Really? So how much do you want? They're going to go out and get that. Would come into Newcastle and do a similar job. We know that centre forward is the most important position. He's one of the reasons why...

they're sitting in fifth I think it is and then the semi-final of the Carabao Cup so what's the money what are the fans going to do with the money no they want no I wouldn't no absolutely not well that's the whole point reinvest in the squad how much do you want for Isak you go out and spend what 50 60 million or maybe on another striker like where who what where they're really really difficult to find so when you've got a

bloody good one then why do you want to let them go for any price I'll tell you something Micah money doesn't score goals well Liverpool sold Coutinho for 150 mil and they go and win the league well it's a different thing in terms of what the club would do as to what supporters would do as well because supporters want their players it's so I mean it's happened with Leicester didn't it when they had all that success Leicester

Kante left, Mahrez left. It's painful. And yes, you get loads of money for them.

But then you've got to spend that wisely. And you know damn well you're never going to be replaced, those players. And you know that your time, your time in the spotlight comes to an end. So I go to the point. I would sell him more chaps. Maybe for the club's debts. No. 250. If they've got to sell for PSL reasons, there'd be other players that I would sell before I would sell Isak for 150 million. Put it that way. Name names, Alan. No, I'm not prepared to do that.

Not yet, anyway. You know, great players leave football clubs. You know, Gareth Bale, obviously massive fee to Real Madrid. It happens. But it's horrible as a fan because, you know...

You try and justify it to yourself, don't you, as a supporter? You say, well, we probably overpaid for him. We've got 70, 80 million. But your team's worse. That's the thing. Your team is worse. So there you have it. Peter Piper. He can't be through. Peter Piper. Yeah, he picked a pepper and pressed it. What's it? Peter Piper picked a pepper.

something like that. Do you have any phobias and what are they? I'm terrible with heights. Me too, I hate heights. I'm wimpish with it. I've ashamed of myself at times. Don't be ashamed of that, Gary. It's fine. It's no problem. No, it's pathetic. You'd be all right, by the way, if you fell. You would be... LAUGHTER

I never thought of that. You got a phobia, Micah? Spiders. Mice. Spiders? Mice. But all little things. Why are you scared of little tiny things? I don't know. Because I'm used to big things. Oh, Christ. Oh.

What a prick. Anyway. Here we go. Stay Hall. After Kyle Walker's disastrous acting skills, should there be tougher sanctions for simulation, play acting and diving? Well, I think it's something that irritates pretty much all of us and most fans as well. And the weird thing is...

Nowadays, with all the cameras they've got and they've got VAR, why? Why do they do it? It's like, I don't know what goes through their minds.

You're never going to get away with it. Here you go. I was speaking about this the other day. Actually, I did a thing in The Athletic last week about, you know, it's trying to con the referee or whatever. What's the difference between shouting for a ball that you know is never a corner or a three and you go up to the referee, yes, it's mine, that's our throw, that's our throw. Tell me that between and the diving. Yeah.

It's crazy, isn't it? Yeah. I agree. Kyle Walkers was a bad one, wasn't he? He should get a high spot. I agree. I agree with that. Okay. Question from Lucy.

Lucy who? We know not, but Lucy. Hi guys. Do you think Arsenal can win the league with Kai Havertz as striker? I'm an Arsenal fan and I really love Havertz. I fully believe he's good enough for this team, but a lot of other fans seem to disagree with me. So I'd love your opinions. Now I know you like him, Alan. Yeah, I do like Havertz. Yeah, but I go back to what I said in August that I still feel as if that's,

the one position that Arsenal are missing is a main centre forward. And that's why I said that if they were to get one of those, then I would be really confident that they would win the league. Yeah, I would say he's not a natural nine. He's probably more of a 10, but his movement is quite good in the box. And I think he's made the most of improving when he's played in that role.

but he's, you know, he's not a Harland. He's not, you know, he's not that, he's not, he's never, I don't think he's ever going to be prolific. I can't see him scoring 20-odd league goals a season, year in, year out, like a heart, you know, those kind of players. Yeah, I think if they could have him and, you know, a real number nine. Yeah, he'll compliment someone really well, yeah. And then they could, you know, interchange and compliment them. I think it could be a good thing. Agreed. Micah, as an Arsenal fan? They could win the league with Havertz, but...

Everyone else would have to be on song too. So at this moment in time, Arsenal are too reliant on set pieces. I think that's fair to say. I think goals from open play, I think they're eighth. And it's not just one team. If Martinelli scored 10 and Saka scored 10-15 and Havertz scored, it was a joint. But unfortunately, I don't think...

You can only win a league with Havertz if everyone else is chipping in and not everyone else chips in enough goals. So I'd probably say no. Especially with Saka injured. Correct. Final question from Bryce Letts. Gary, we know what your most embarrassing moment was in your career. Yeah. Okay. No shit, Sherlock. Micah and Alan...

What were yours? I've already said mine. Fucking Pellegrini took me off at halftime. Oh, yeah. It was so embarrassing. I was losing the game. And yeah, that man Zabaleta goes on, takes my place. He ended up winning the game. And then I'm effing and jeffing afterwards, like I've told the story before.

And I missed out on my second Premier League title just because I wouldn't go apologise to him. How stubborn was I, by the way? How stubborn is that? And stupid. Yeah, the stupidity of youth, Michael. What's your most embarrassing moment? Missing a penalty against Sunderland at the Gallagher end. Oh, yeah. Ah, did you?

Elaborate! I've not heard that story. No, we'll just pass on. It's time to finish this. It's fine. Didn't they do stuff outside your house? I woke up to about 10 foot of shit and hay and flour and eggs and fish and everything outside my gates, yeah. Was that a true story there? Yeah. Yeah.

No way, it was some guff that, wasn't it? Bloody hell. Yeah, it wasn't very nice. All right, what a wonderful way to finish. Okay, that's it from this week's Question and Answer episode. Thank you once again for sending in your questions. Goodbye from me. Goodbye from me. Goodbye from me. Goodbye from me.

As promised, here's a clip from the Rest Is Politics U.S. miniseries. Trump is naturally a conspiracy theorist fueler. He will fuel the fire of any conspiracy theory because he's always seen himself as an outsider and he wants to foment conspiracy.

the people from the outside to attack the people from the inside. So he's developing these ideas that he eventually uses in January on the 6th of January. And the ideas are there's misinformation out there. There's lies out there. Let's use these lies as fodder to attack the people on the inside. He's doing it with COVID. I think hydroxychloroquine works well.

You may remember this. I took hydroxychloroquine. Mr. President, you took hydroxychloroquine? Yeah. Yeah, I'm on it. I took it. And this is the beginnings. This is the kernels.

If you want to hear the rest of the show, go and search The Rest Is Politics US wherever you get your podcasts.