The summer transfer window has rather predictably thrown up some great stories to keep the modern day media busy, and of course the speculation rumour mill is in full flow with claim and counterclaim when it comes to the business that clubs up and down the country are planning on doing, but in recent days one story in particular has exploded into life and it concerns Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak.
It all started out calm enough with reports that Liverpool were interested in potentially signing the 25 year old Swedish international striker, and then it started to get a little bit murky with reports that Isak had told Newcastle that he was interested in the move, but was not going to hand in an official transfer request.
Things then took a turn as Eddie Howe took his first team squad away for their pre season training camp and friendly schedule, but Isak was missing from the travelling party and their gaffer admitted that in many ways, he did not actually know what was going on. Last Friday, Liverpool made their move with a £110 million offer for the player who has scored 54 Premier League goals in 78 top fight starts, but the St James Park outfit rejected that out of hand, sticking firm to their reported valuation of £150 million. For those fans who have a VPN provider, what this means for their opening day clash when football returns to our screens is anyone’s guess.
In return, Arne Slot’s side simply told the media that they were willing to walk away from the deal, but as far as Newcastle fans are concerned, the damage has already been done and they now have a player on their hands who wants away having been seriously disrupted ahead of the season kicking off. The story then took another turn as Howe admitted that he had only learned that Isak was training alone at former club Real Sociedad’s facilities from the media itself, which obviously then led fans to wonder whether he had been told to stay away by the club whilst he recovered from a claimed ‘minor thigh injury’, or had chosen to stay away on his own as a means of applying slightly more pressure to encourage them to do a deal.
Speaking on Saturday, Howe admitted that the whole situation was now very ‘complex’ and in terms of pre season preparations, particularly in light of their return to Champions League football this season, it was certainly ‘far from ideal’, and it feels like this one definitely has more to run before it culminates in an end. The next big step will be in seeing whether or not Isak actually returns to the club next week, as he was supposedly due back in Newcastle at some point this weekend.
Geordie fans will be hoping that the supposed tensions that are building have been overblown somewhat by the press, as Isak’s importance to them is clear for all to see and they would have been hoping to see him help fire them to a good European run for all the benefits that this would bring the club. Howe was certainly trying to indicate that the player still more than had a future at the club, even though he admitted he had no idea how this would work out.
With a fortnight to go before the big kick and their game against Aston Villa, there is bound to be a twist and turn left yet.
