There is “no chance” of Alexander Isak joining Newcastle for the second leg of their pre-season tour, admits Eddie Howe, amid transfer interest from Liverpool.
Newcastle will depart Singapore for South Korea next week ahead of friendlies against the K-League All Stars and Tottenham.
They will do so knowing Isak will not be joining them, having elected not to travel to the Far East after communicating his desire to leave the club.
Liverpool are expected to table a bid for the Swedish striker, according to the Mail‘s Craig Hope, and logic suggests that could develop following the imminent £65.6 million sale of Luis Diaz.
Diaz is set to join Bayern Munich and that could begin a domino effect as Liverpool prepare another British record transfer, Darwin Nunez heads to Saudi Arabia and Newcastle find a new centre-forward.
It should come as no surprise that Howe is not expecting Isak to rejoin his squad.
Asked if his No. 14 could link up with his Newcastle teammates in South Korea, Howe told reporters: “No, no chance.”
Speaking after his side’s 3-2 friendly defeat to Arsenal in Singapore on Sunday, the manager stressed there had been no change in the situation around Isak.
In an update on Sunday, Hope wrote for the Mail that Newcastle are “working around the clock to bring in a frontman.”
Having lost out to Liverpool in their pursuit of Hugo Ekitike, they have also been spurned in their advances for a number of other targets.
But while there is an emphasis on recruiting another goalkeeper, following their failure to sign James Trafford, the priority will be in bringing in at least one more top striker.
RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko is among their targets with Brentford‘s Yoane Wissa, Aston Villa‘s Ollie Watkins and Chelsea‘s Nicolas Jackson also linked.
While it has been maintained that Newcastle wanted to sign a No. 9 to play with Isak, rather than replace him, the reality is that these are leading options rather than an auxiliary player.
With “no chance” that Isak makes the trip to South Korea the writing appears to be on the wall, even though Newcastle insist the Sweden international is out due to an injury.
Liverpool have publicly maintained distance following the news Isak had told Newcastle he wants to leave, but there will almost certainly be movement in the background as they prepare to break the British transfer record again.
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