Newcastle United latest news: Alexander Isak could make his debut for Liverpool this weekend after departing St James’ Park - but Arne Slot faces a major worry.
Isak hasn’t featured in a competitive, or non-competitive match even, at club level since May having missed the entirety of Newcastle United’s pre-season and August matches. As he looked to force a move away from St James’ Park, Isak trained away from Newcastle United’s first-team and will have some rustiness to shake off on Merseyside.
Certainly, that is the view of Arne Slot who has tempered expectations about what the striker will be able to contribute during his first few weeks as a Reds player: “Don’t expect him to be every single game 90 minutes on the pitch,” Slot said.
“That’s definitely not going to happen for the next few weeks. He missed a proper pre-season.
“I think he missed three or four months of team sessions, so now we have to build him up gradually with us playing so many games and hardly any training time.
“That is going to be a challenge, but we have not just signed him for the upcoming two weeks, we have signed him for six years so this is what we have to keep in mind and what the fans have to keep in mind if I take him off in a certain moment or I only bring him in for a few moments. That is all for the fitness of the player.”
Eddie Howe reveals when his relationship with Alexander Isak ‘changed’
Howe spoke to the media for the first time since the closure of the summer transfer window on Friday as he previewed his side’s clash with Wolves. It was the first time that Howe had been asked about Isak following his move to Liverpool, having spent the majority of summer addressing the striker as his player and keeping the door open on a possible reintegration into the first-team.
Howe, though, admitted on Friday that his relationship with Isak had changed when the Swedish international went on strike and didn’t train with his Magpies teammates: “Alex and I always enjoyed a great relationship,” United’s head coach said. “I loved working with him and I hope he loved working with us.
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“It was mutually beneficial. We helped him become the player that he in part is today. And he helped us as a team achieve some unbelievable milestones. He was part of a very successful team.
“But to give you a bit more on that, the moment he went on strike our relationship did change. I think that was probably a turning point in our relationship. Communication became difficult from that point onwards. I won’t go into any more detail than that.”
Newcastle United’s post-Isak chapter gets underway on Saturday when they host Wolves at St James’ Park. Record signing Nick Woltemade could make his debut but Yoane Wissa, a man the Magpies brought in on deadline day, will have to wait for his first start after being injured on international duty with DR Congo.
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