Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has spoken again about Liverpool transfer target Alexander Isak
Eddie Howe speaks to Alexander Isak during a Liverpool game
Eddie Howe has given an Alexander Isak update amid links with a move to Liverpool
(Image: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has provided another update on the future of striker Alexander Isak.
The Liverpool transfer target has been made to train alone and missed his team's latest pre-season test against Spanish side Espanyol.
Isak, who expressed his desire to leave then was subject of a rejected £110 million offer from Liverpool, was not listed at all in the squad that welcomed Spanish opposition to St. James' Park on Friday night.
The Magpies played a tight 2-2 contest leaving plenty to talk about from the game, but the immediate focus was placed directly on the absent striker.
As the ECHO understands, the Reds are not lining up a second attempt to sign the 25-year-old as things stand but will be keeping a close watch of events unfolding.
The Newcastle manage sat down and answered the media and said the following to various media outlets...
Howe's condition for Isak return
"Discussions between us have to remain private. We would love to see him back with the team," reports ChronicleLive's Lee Ryder. "The situation has to be right for that to happen."
When asked whether he'd seen enough to suggest that Isak has shown any intent to play for the club again, Howe said: "I don't think we have gone into that, we have had discussions but we have not gone there. I am probably best not to comment.
"Well, he is here and he is contracted to us. So as long as he is in that position, there is a chance that he could play for Newcastle again. I don't know what the future will hold."
What Isak is doing
"We’ve had discussions and it’s clear at the moment we can’t have him involved with the group. I don’t know how long that will be for," reported the Daily Mail's Craig Hope from Howe's press conference.
"It’s clear I can’t involve him with the team at the moment. He is training later than the rest of the squad.
"There have been discussions since the tour. I don’t think disciplinary action has happened.
"He is here, so of course he has a future at Newcastle. From our persecutive, we would love to have him back with the team, but the situation has to be right for that to happen."
Ryder, asking about the thigh injury that meant Isak had missed Newcastle's previous four pre-season fixtures, got the answer: "His thigh injury has recovered. He has no fitness issues."
What needs to happen next
Placing the onus on his striker, Howe told BBC Newcastle: "We would love there to be a way back but, ultimately, that's going to rest with Alex. For us, he's still very much our player.
"But the situation is what it is - and I have to focus on the players that are here and fit, and want to play."
Hope asked about the possibility of Isak featuring in the Magpies' Premier League opener against Aston Villa on Saturday, August 16, and Howe responded: "I want Alex to be playing today. I want him training tomorrow. We would love the player to be with us, let me make that absolutely clear. There is no part of me that does not want that outcome.
"But I don't see the current situation changing before Aston Villa."
And ChronicleLive wanted to know if Isak's exit path can truly be blocked by his employers.
"I don't think it is that straight-forward otherwise we'd do that a long time ago. Otherwise we'd have done it," Howe replied. "I don't think we are in a position to do that currently. I don't want to go into too much detail I don't think that is right, I think I have said enough."