Eddie Howe hopes to end the tour of South Asia with a win after a 3-2 loss to **Arsenal**in Singapore and a 1-0 defeat to the K-League XI in South Korea. But he also has to handle a disturbing situation.
Alexander Isak is absent from the squad as **Liverpool**look to tempt him away from Newcastle United. The rejection of a first bid could leave the striker in the lurch if the Reds walk away, but no matter what happens next, Howe will welcome the idea of "seeing him in a **Newcastle**shirt again."
‘We can only deal with the reality’
Isak missed the start of the preseason tour with a "minor thigh injury", but it was soon clear that he was intent on exploring a route away from Tyneside.
Indeed, Newcastle United received a bid in the region of £110 million for the 25-year-old, but they refused to accept a figure below their valuation.
The board is pulling the strings in England, so the manager could only offer a little more insight.
*“I am very much removed from everything that's happening back home. I was made aware that there was a bid yesterday. That bid was turned down before I even heard about it. I think there are people back in England dealing with the situation. I don't know what's going to happen next, but from our perspective, we still support Alex in every way. My wish is we see him in a **Newcastle*shirt again.”
If Isak is on his way out of the door, rumours are reporting that the top target for the Toon is Benjamin Sesko.
Christopher Vivell, director of recruitment at Man United, has also pushed for the Red Devils to demand the services of the striker ahead of Ollie Watkins, and a bidding war could ensue. But again, the Englishman could not give too much detail to the media about what to expect.
“Sorry to sound like a broken record: I'm sort of aware of what's happening, but I'm not dealing with it minute to minute and the time difference, as I said, woke up two training sessions straight here.”
The manager made clear he cannot focus on one player alone when he has to get his group in shape.
“I am sort of finding out what's happening after everything's happened. We're trying to bring players to the football club and I have made that clear. But I cannot talk about any individual targets.”
The saga took a turn for the worse when the Swede set off for San Sebastian to use the training facilities of Real Sociedad, his former club. However, less than 24 hours after **Newcastle**had turned down the offer for their number 14, David Ornstein revealed that he is set to return to the UK.
“I know where he is really through the media. From that perspective, it’s difficult for me to go into any kind of detail. The situation is far from ideal and quite complex. I think that is all that I have to say.”
Howe hammered home that he only wants to handle the facts of the matter involving the forward.
“I think it's difficult because as I said a second ago, you don't know what's going to happen from this point. There can be all sorts of talk of hypothetical situations. We can only deal with the reality.”
But he backs the board of his club to continue to conduct themselves in the right way this month.
*“We had the first bid from Liverpool. I believe that was turned down. From this point onwards, let's see what happens. I've got no idea of trying to predict that in terms of trying to upset players and all that kind of stuff. I think from my perspective we can only talk of our conduct and we try to do things in the right way. Look, signing players is always complex. We just try to do what we think is right.”*