Alexander Isak hopes Newcastle United will sanction his move to Liverpool before the transfer window closes at 7pm on Tuesday.
Isak is on strike at Newcastle in an attempt to force through a move to Liverpool, and the chances of him getting his wish have increased in the last 24 hours following the imminent arrival of Nick Woltemade for a club-record £69million from Stuttgart.
The Swede sat out of the club’s pre-season tour of Asia and hasn’t been seen with his teammates since, instead opting to train alone and refusing to play. Isak has missed the opening two games of the season against Aston Villa and Liverpool, and won’t be involved in Saturday’s trip to Leeds United.
Eddie Howe responds to Alexander Isak claims
Isak made his feelings known via a bombshell statement last week, in which he wrote, “when promises are broken and trust is lost, the relationship can’t continue.” Newcastle, in a statement of their own, strenuously denied accusations that they told Isak he could leave. Now head coach Howe has publicly did the same.
“Absolutely not,” replied Howe, when asked if he told Isak he could leave if a replacement arrived. “I never make any promises to any players regarding transfers because, ultimately, I'm not in control of the whole thing. So, no, I never make a promise like that to a player.
“But, of course, as I've said so many times with conversations with Alex, I'm not going to reveal the dialogue because I don't think that's healthy.”
Liverpool set to return with Alexander Isak bid
Newcastle have long maintained that Isak was not for sale but the player’s conduct and refusal to return to the squad has altered the thinking on Tyneside.
United would still like to sign two strikers before sanctioning Isak’s exit but the imminent arrival of Woltemade is expected to provoke Liverpool into tabling a second bid, after an opening bid of £110m was turned down on August 1.
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Asked about what Woltemade signing would mean for Isak, Howe said: “Difficult for me to give you any clarity on the future. I've said before, I don't know what the future holds in that respect because I'm not dealing with it myself.
“I've got no update from what I spoke about the other day. I'm concentrating on trying to bring players to the club.
Howe added: “That's where I've been for a long time, with the Alex situation, because it would be detrimental for me to invest any more time in that situation when I've got 25, 30 players needing every ounce of energy and time, and the team needs me to focus on trying to get results. So that's what I've tried to do.
“Other people, as I've said, are dealing with that situation. For me, it's been, let me focus on the players that are playing and that can influence our results.”
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