Alexander Isak transfer update as Newcastle confirm Liverpool target dropped for friendly | OneFootball

Eddie Howe is ‘desperate’ to keep the player ahead of the Magpies’ return to the Champions League

Eddie Howe is ‘confident’ that star striker Alexander Isak will stay at Newcastle this summer despite widespread transfer interest.

Isak, the subject of interest from both Liverpool and Al Hilal this summer, was missing from the team sheet in Glasgow. Howe confirmed post-match that he was left out due to the swirling rumours.

“It was my decision,” he said of Isak’s omission. “I decided to send him home due to all the speculation around him.

“The last thing he wanted was to be sat in the stands watching. That wasn’t fair to him.”

He expects Isak to spend next season at St James’ Park: “I think it's difficult for me to ever give 100 per cent clarity on any player, I'd never do that. All I can say is Alex is happy at Newcastle, he loves the players, the staff, the team.

“I've never had any issue with him and I'm confident he's going to be here at the start of the season.

"We have a few of those players who are irreplaceable. Your top players are so hard to find, so hard to recruit, and so hard to develop. So when you have them, you need to treasure them. Of course we're desperate to keep him as part of our team."

Isak’s services are in high demand this summer after he bagged 23 League goals for Newcastle last season, charting a further six assists.

Howe said he and the Swede had spoken about the rumours: “Yes I've had discussions with him, but that's not abnormal. I respect a player's career and how short it is.

“Alex has been really good, he's trained really well and I realise there'll be noise around him.”

Isak is expected to travel with the squad to Asia for further preseason friendlies against Arsenal and Tottenham.

Liverpool had enquired about the striker’s availability earlier this week, and were reportedly willing to make a £120million offer. Isak was said to be open to the move.

But the Reds have since cooled their interest, moving instead for Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike - a considerably cheaper option at around £70m - as they look to upgrade on the misfiring Darwin Nunez.

Ekitike is also a Newcastle target, and looks set to join the litany of players to have snubbed the Geordies in what has proved a challenging summer window. They have brought in Nottingham Forest’s Anthony Elanga, but saw a move for Joao Pedro hijacked by Chelsea.

Their transfer business has been limited by the surprise departure of sporting director Paul Mitchell in June, just a year after he had taken over from Dan Ashworth.