The Magpies complete the final South Korean leg of their Far East tour on Sunday when they take on Tottenham in Seoul, and once they head back to England, resolving the current impasse over Isak will be their number one priority.
Isak did not travel to Asia with the rest of the Newcastle squad, and while an ongoing thigh issue was cited as the initial explanation for his absence, there has subsequently been an acceptance that the ongoing uncertainty over the striker’s future is also a major factor in the current stand-off between the Swede and his employers.
While the rest of Howe’s first-team group continue their pre-season preparations in South Korea, Isak is currently in Spain, working at the training base of his former employers, Real Sociedad.
Newcastle officials are aware of the situation, and have given Isak permission to spend time in Spain while the vast majority of the Magpies’ coaching and backroom staff are in the Far East.
The Swedish striker has worked with his own medical and fitness team in the past when he has been recovering from injury, so it is not especially unusual for him to spend time working and training with non-Newcastle employees.
However, the optics of the current situation are far from ideal given that Isak has requested the right to ‘explore all options over his future’ despite being contracted to Newcastle to the summer of 2028.
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While Liverpool are known to have a strong interest in signing Isak, the reigning Premier League champions have still not tabled a bid for the 26-year-old despite Luis Diaz completing a move to Bayern Munich earlier this week.
It was anticipated that Diaz’s £65m move to Bundesliga would prompt Liverpool into making a formal offer for Isak amid suggestions that the Anfield club are willing to pay up to £120m for the striker.
That has not yet happened, and the ongoing uncertainty is hardly ideal as the Newcastle hierarchy attempt to negotiate their way through an extremely delicate situation.
For now, with so many players and staff in the Far East, the club’s ownership group have been willing to allow things to settle without putting too much pressure on Isak or his representatives.
That position will not hold for too much longer, though, with the return of Howe and his senior coaches to Tyneside expected to lead to a shift in position. Howe is expected to hold face-to-face talks with Isak once he is back at Newcastle’s Darsley Park training ground, and in the absence of a sporting director in the wake of Paul Mitchell’s departure at the start of last month, it is even possible that the club’s chairman, and head of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, Yasir al-Rumayyan, could become personally involved in attempts to resolve the situation.
Newcastle are mindful of the risks involved in retaining a player whose mind appears to be elsewhere, but are also adamant that while Isak remains contracted to them, he will be expected to adhere to the terms of his deal. That means being available for training and matches – injury permitting – with Newcastle’s next game after Sunday’s friendly due to seeing them take on Espanyol and Atletico Madrid in a Sela Cup double-header on the weekend of August 8-9.
The Magpies are investigating potential options to replace Isak, but have not really made any progress on any of the fronts they have been looking at.
RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko would be their preferred option, but Manchester United are also extremely interested in the Slovenian striker. It has been suggested that Leipzig will demand a minimum initial fee of €75m for Sesko as well as further add-ons and a guaranteed sell-on clause.
Newcastle have been unable to make a breakthrough with Brentford over Yoane Wissa, who is currently refusing to train with the Bees. Brentford rejected the Magpies’ offer for Wissa, who feels his current employers have reneged on an agreement that they would allow him to leave this summer if a club bid £25m for his services.
