Eddie Howe says he is “confident” that Alexander Isak will remain a Newcastle United player at the end of the transfer window amid interest from Liverpool.
The Merseyside outfit approached the Magpies this week about a potential £120 million deal for the striker, but were told that he is not for sale.
Isak was sent home by Howe ahead of Newcastle‘s 4-0 pre-season friendly defeat to Celtic due to the speculation surrounding his future. The 25-year-old was not due to play as they are managing his minutes at this stage.
Howe makes Isak transfer prediction amid Liverpool interest
“It was my decision,” said Howe. “He travelled to Glasgow with us but I decided to send him home due to the speculation around him.
“The last thing he wanted is to be sat in the stand watching, that wasn’t fair to him. But I’m confident he will be a Newcastle player come the end of the window.”
Howe revealed that Newcastle have not yet received a formal approach for Isak yet and has spoken with him about the situation and insisted the player is happy at St. James’ Park.
“Yes I’ve had discussions with him, but that’s not abnormal,” he said. “I respect a player’s career and how short it is. Alex has been really good, he’s trained really well and I realise there’ll be noise around him.
“I think it’s difficult for me to ever give 100 per cent clarity on any player, I’d never do that. All I can say is Alex is happy at Newcastle, he loves the players, the staff, the team. I’ve never had any issue with him and I’m confident he’s going to be here at the start of the season.”
Read – How Ekitike and Isak compare as Liverpool and Newcastle play transfer chess
While Liverpool still retain interest in signing Isak, they have turned their attentions to Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike, who is also a transfer target for Newcastle. Frankfurt rejected a bid worth £70m from the Tyneside club this week.
Howe has been frustrated by Newcastle’s transfer business thus far, missing out on targets such as Joao Pedro to Chelsea and Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester United. They are also interest in Brentford’s Yoane Wissa, but that move is complicated by Mbeumo’s move to Old Trafford. Thus far they have only signed Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest.
“I wish I could give you clarity, some sort of guarantee that this or that is going to happen, but I can’t,” Howe said.
“My wish was for us to do our business early, we certainly tried but it wasn’t to be.
“I’ll be open about us missing out on targets to other clubs on several occasions. If a player is not desperate to come, then the transfer doesn’t work.
“We’re confident we can try and get some more players in to try and strengthen the depth of our squad.”
Read More – The biggest transfers so far in each of Europe’s top five leagues
See Also – The highest spending clubs in Europe so far this summer
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