Eddie Howe has addressed Alexander Isak’s situation at Newcastle United once again ahead of Monday’s meeting with Liverpool at St James’ Park.
Isak has exiled himself from Newcastle’s first-team for the past month following transfer interest from Liverpool.
The striker missed all of Newcastle’s pre-season matches and the opening game of the Premier League season at Aston Villa.
Isak is set to miss Monday’s match against Liverpool at St James’ Park with Howe unable to give guarantees if or when he will return. The Reds have seen a £110million bid for Isak rejected by Newcastle, who don’t expect the striker to be sold this summer.
Isak released a statement declaring his intent to leave Newcastle and cited ‘broken promises’ as the reason why. The club quickly responded by claiming no such promises were made and that the conditions that would allow Isak to leave the club have not been met.
Eddie Howe provides Alexander Isak update
As expected, Howe’s pre-match press conference was dominated by questions about Newcastle’s wantaway striker.
Howe said: “No, there's been no change. He won't be part of the squad.”
When asked about the war of words between Isak and the club following the publishing of statements on Tuesday night, Howe responded: “My preference would be that it doesn't happen publicly because everything is better dealt with behind closed doors but needs must.
“The club has spoken and it's justified. Of course, he's contracted to us, he's our player.
“My wish is that he'd be playing on Monday night for us but he won't.
“I haven't seen him this week. I saw him last week and when I see him we speak as normal. There's no issues between us but it's a difficult situation for both sides and far from ideal for both parties.
“He's training later on detached from the group and then I'm in meetings. I'm sure we'll catch up at some stage.
“[Will the situation be resolved before the end of the transfer window?] I'm not a fortune-teller, unfortunately. I'd love to be, but I've got no way of knowing what will happen in the next few days in terms of trying to get some finality on the situation, so I'm in the same boat as everybody else, really."
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Alexander Isak statement
On Tuesday night, Isak released the following statement explaining his absence at the PFA Awards evening in Manchester.
It read: “I'm proud to be recognised by my fellow professionals with a place in the PFA Premier League Team of the Season for 2024/25.
“First and foremost, I want to thank my teammates and everyone at Newcastle United who has supported me along the way.
“I'm not at the ceremony tonight. With everything going on, it didn't feel right to be there.
“I've kept quiet for a long time while others have spoken. That silence has allowed people to push their own version of events, even though they know it doesn't reflect what was really said and agreed behind closed doors.
“The reality is that promises were made and the club has known my position for a long time. To now act as if these issues are only emerging is misleading.
“When promises are broken and trust is lost, the relationship can't continue. That's where things are for me right now and why change is in the best interests of everyone, not just myself.
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