Manager says he is confident that Isak will still be a Newcastle player next season
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has said the club’s hierarchy will have the final say on Alexander Isak’s future.
There has been much speculation on whether or not the striker will leave St James’ Park this summer.
Isak told the club this week that he wants to explore his options in the transfer window, with Liverpool having expressed serious interest in him this month, although the Premier League champions have now spent a fee rising to £79m to sign Hugo Ekitike.
Newcastle’s stance has always been that Isak is not for sale, but it is unclear whether the player will be content to stay on Tyneside for another season.
Isak was left out of Newcastle’s pre-season tour of East Asia, officially due to a thigh issue. However, sources close to the player suggested that his absence is also linked to uncertainty about his future.
Howe said: “I’ve experienced that (players wanting to leave a club) many times and it’s never the same situation. There’s loads of different things that can happen in that scenario.
“We take every situation on an individual basis. But there’s a wider picture here. There’s a whole football club that has to make the decision.
“The ownership, together with the board of directors, especially with the money involved in modern day transfers. The manager of course has an opinion, but ultimately the decision will rest with the board.
“The club will make the right decision with all the information that it has, and ultimately to try and move the club forward in whatever way that is.”
The manager himself, however, remains confident that Isak will still be a Newcastle player next season.
“I said after Celtic, ‘I certainly hope he stays.’ And I said I was confident that he’d stay.
“I don’t see anything that’s going to change that opinion of mine at the moment, but it’s football and who knows what the future may bring.”
