Eddie Howe admits Newcastle striker Alexander Isak has control of his future with the club as Liverpool remain interested in signing the Sweden forward.
\nIsak will not be involved in Newcastle\u2019s Premier League opener at Aston Villa on Saturday after reportedly telling the club he wants to leave St James\u2019 Park.
\nThe 25-year-old was the subject of a rejected \u00a3110 million ($149 million) bid from Premier League champions Liverpool earlier in August.
\nNewcastle boss Howe is desperate to keep Isak, who helped the Magpies end their 56-year trophy drought by winning the League Cup final against Liverpool last season, while also firing them to Champions League qualification.
\nAsked if he envisioned Isak playing for the Newcastle before the end of the summer transfer window, Howe told reporters on Friday: \u201cAs I sit here now, I don\u2019t know that. Alex will control that.\u201d
\nIsak is reportedly refusing to train or play in an effort to force his way out of the club he joined from Real Sociedad in 2022.
\nHe did not take part in Newcastle\u2019s pre-season tour, training alone at his former club Sociedad instead.
\nIsak has three years remaining on his Newcastle contract and it is understood he will be fined \u2014 the maximum penalty for a single offence is two weeks\u2019 wages \u2014 for missing a competitive match this weekend.
\nReports have suggested Liverpool will submit a second offer \u2014 their initial bid was \u00a340 million shy of Newcastle\u2019s valuation \u2014 but Howe is confident there is a way back for the player should no deal be struck.
\n\u201cYes, I believe there is, but of course discussions and talks would have to take place in order for that to happen,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cAt the moment I would (expect him to stay), but I\u2019ve got no change of feeling throughout the summer.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not in my hands, but he\u2019s contracted to us, so that\u2019s why I say that.\u201d
\nIsak\u2019s stance had angered Newcastle fans and Howe hopes the striker realises how important the club has been in his development.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s a highly intelligent person and he knows he wouldn\u2019t have the success here without everybody connected with Newcastle,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cThis is a different moment for him and us, and we\u2019re working through that together.\u201d
\nHowe is also focused on strengthening Newcastle\u2019s squad, regardless of Isak\u2019s transfer status.
\nAston Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey is close to completing a move to Tyneside, while Brentford forward Yoane Wissa is a target for Howe.
\n\u201cYes, we\u2019ve been active for a few and for whatever reason, they haven\u2019t happened, I can\u2019t deny that, but we\u2019re still actively looking and I still believe that there is someone there that can fit our requirements,\u201d said Howe, who failed in approaches for Hugo Ekitike, Benjamin Sesko and Joao Pedro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Eddie Howe admits Newcastle striker Alexander Isak has control of his future with the club as Liverpool remain interested in signing the Sweden forward. Isak will not be involved in Newcastle\u2019s Premier League opener at Aston Villa on Saturday after reportedly telling the club he wants to leave St James\u2019 Park. The 25-year-old was the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":85457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85456"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85458,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85456\/revisions\/85458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}