Newcastle United have reportedly paused contract talks with Alexander Isak amid intense interest from the Premier League including Arsenal.
As the summer transfer window approaches, the 25-year-old striker has been heavily linked with an exit from Newcastle. The striker, who sees his contract at St James' Park expire in the summer of 2028 continues to impress for club and country.
This term, he has scored 19 times in 25 Premier League appearances. He has played a key role for Eddie Howe's team, firing them into the top six.
Newcastle, meanwhile, have been keen to tie him to a new long-term deal but it appears to have been proven difficult so far. That's according to Caught Offside, which reports that the Swedish star didn't accept their 'initial proposals.'
It's said the club will now reassess and plan their next move. Besides Arsenal, Liverpool hold a strong interest in Isak and reputedly view him as a 'top priority' to strengthen their attack.
When quizzed on his future by Swedish publication Fotboll Skanalen, Isak said: "From within the club and from our side there are absolutely no discussions. It's just full focus on playing for me. "There is a lot of writing outside but within the club no one is talking about anything like that. I just want to perform for Newcastle.
"Now we won the cup, but we want to finish strong and reach the Champions League games. It's pretty normal, pretty much the same as it was before. I do my best to relax and live as usual. But it's clear that it's hard to avoid everything that is written on social media."
Howe meanwhile, is determined to keep hold of his best players. "We have to try and keep our best players," he previously said.
"That's crucial to our short-term success and our long-term success, so sitting here as the manager of the football club, I'd be saying we need to keep the group together and we need to add the other way. We haven't added [to the first team] in a long time in various transfer windows for the reasons we've all discussed."
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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