Newcastle are braced for a formal offer from Liverpool for Alexander Isak this week after Eddie Howe revealed there is no chance of their want-away striker joining the squad here in the Far East.
The 25-year-old is on Tyneside after ruling himself out of the club’s pre-season tour with a thigh injury. Subsequent scans were thought to be clear but he will remain at home.
Isak wants to join Liverpool and, with the Premier League champions set to bank £65million from the sale of Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich, an official approach is now expected.
That will leave Newcastle’s owners with a decision to make, as Howe admitted this weekend. They must choose between negotiating and extracting maximum value for the player, or refuse all offers and tell Isak he is staying. Even within the camp here in Singapore, opinion is split as to which approach is best for the club.
The message from above remains that they want to keep their best players, but Isak making it clear he wants to go could force the owners into making a business decision, especially if Liverpool’s offer approaches £150million.
After confirming to Mail Sport that Isak will not be joining the team in South Korea during the next seven days, Howe addressed the issue of his players being distracted by the situation.
‘It’s business as usual for the players,’ said the Newcastle boss. ‘Naturally we’re going to miss a player of Alex’s quality and the group are going to feel that.
‘There’s no denying that. I can’t sit here and claim that they won’t. But they’re a very a professional group of players and they’re doing brilliantly as far as I can see in terms of managing the situation.’
Newcastle remain in talks for Brentford’s Yoane Wissa, while RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins and Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson are also on the shortlist.
Howe, speaking after Sunday’s 3-2 defeat by Arsenal, added: ‘We’re not deluded.
‘We know we need to bring players in. We’ve known that for a long time. We did a lot of work (at the end of last season), we knew what we wanted. But it’s been a challenging transfer window. Let’s see what we can do.’
