Eddie Howe has admitted that he does not know what is going to happen next after Liverpool had a bid for Alexander Isak turned down by Newcastle on Friday.
The striker has made it clear to his club that he wants to leave this summer and that he is particularly keen on a move to Anfield. Liverpool have now had a £110m bid rejected after their sporting director, Richard Hughes, made an enquiry about the Sweden international’s availability to Newcastle two weeks ago. Newcastle value Isak at £150m.
“I think from my situation, I am very much removed from everything that is happening back home,” Howe said in a press conference in Seoul, where Newcastle are due to play Tottenham on Sunday. “I was made aware there was a bid yesterday. That bid was turned down before I heard about it.
“There are people back in England dealing with the situation. I really don’t know what is going to happen next, but from our perspective, we still support Alex in every way, and my wish is still that we see him in a Newcastle shirt again.”
Isak has not been part of the club’s pre-season tour of Asia, which his employers said was due to a minor thigh injury. However, the 25-year-old has been training at his former club Real Sociedad in Spain this week.
“I know where he is through the media, so I think from that perspective it’s difficult for me to go into any detail,” Howe said. “The situation is far from ideal. It is quite complex. I think that is all I have got to say.”
Isak, who has scored more than 20 Premier League goals in each of the last two seasons, still has three years left on his contract at St James’ Park. There has been no progress on a new contract for him.
Newcastle are yet to line up a replacement for Isak having failed to sign a striker during this summer’s window. They are reported to have made a formal bid to RB Leipzig for Benjamin Sesko. It is understood that the club are tabling an offer of €75m (£65.5m) plus €5m (£4.3m) in add-ons. That is said to match Leipzig’s valuation but Manchester United are also targeting Sesko as part of Ruben Amorin’s summer rebuild of his squad.
“We are looking for the best players that we can get,” Howe said, refusing to comment on Sesko individually. “Whatever our target position is, we’re looking for the best, so I see all situations open and available to us. I feel that’s the only way that we’re going to get to where we want to go, which is to maximise, and it’s quality over quantity. It always has been.”
Newcastle’s opening offer for Yoane Wissa was rejected by Brentford last month, while they were beaten to the signing of Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitiké by Liverpool.
“It’s been a challenging summer,” Howe said. “We’ve missed out on various targets for loads of different reasons. But we’re still very competitive and we’re still in there trying to bring very good players to the club and that won’t change until the window shuts.”
Howe’s side have endured a difficult pre-season to date, with defeats to Celtic (4-0), Arsenal (3-2) and the K-League All Stars (1-0). The Denmark Under-21 striker Will Osula, who scored two goals in all competitions last season, started all three matches in Isak’s absence.
After facing Tottenham in Seoul, Newcastle will play Espanyol and Atlético Madrid at St James’ Park before starting their Premier League campaign at Aston Villa on 16 August.
