Chelsea has officially withdrawn from the race to sign Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, seemingly because of the club's "inability" to meet the Magpies' valuation of over PS100 million for one of the best Premier League goalscorers alive.
According to sources speaking to The Sun, Chelsea's new manager Enzo Maresca and the club's management were reluctant to match Newcastle's price tag, which they believe should be closer to PS120 million given the current market conditions.
Despite holding talks with the Swedish international, Chelsea's efforts to secure Isak's signature were hampered by financial constraints alleged by the Blues as they will pivot to other (most probably not cheaper or blatantly worse) options.
Newcastle was particularly cautious about this approach, however, with the Magpies suspecting that Chelsea might attempt to exploit their financial situation to secure Isak at a reduced price given the PSR deadline and the need for money through sales.
What seems to be true is that Chelsea was facing challenges in meeting Isak's wage demands because they were all about low-balling the Sweden striker had they landed him. Isak, currently earning around PS120,000 per week, would have required a significant increase to approximately PS200,000 per week to facilitate a move to Stamford Bridge, which doesn't seem outrageous at all given his on-field exploits.
At the end of the day, all of those fabricated financial hurdles proved too significant for Chelsea to overcome, if you believe them...
The fallout from Chelsea's withdrawal extends beyond just the London club, however, as Newcastle could have considered selling Isak to fund other transfers, including a potential move for Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and most importantly to forget about any and every potential breaching of the PSR constraints.
With Chelsea out of the picture and Isak's hefty fee no longer in play, Newcastle's plans are now in flux with mere hours to work something out.
Eddie Howe still has Calvert-Lewin as a key target should Isak depart and probably if he stays put too, but without the funds from an Isak sale, Newcastle is unlikely to pursue Calvert-Lewin aggressively at least before the June 30 deadline.
Everton, facing their own financial difficulties and PSR deadlines, had hoped to sell Calvert-Lewin to ease their financial burden. The collapse of the Isak deal leaves Everton in a precarious position too, perhaps even worse, as they're also unable to secure the transfer funds they anticipated from Newcastle.
Chelsea's decision to withdraw from the Isak pursuit could make it hard for Newcastle to balance their books with just two days left for the football year to end when Sunday, June 30 comes to an end.