Eddie Howe says club are still competing to bring the best players in
Newcastle United will not allow the uncertainty surrounding Alexander Isak’s future to dictate their approach in the transfer market, manager Eddie Howe has said.
The Magpies continue to face a difficult summer window. Their striker search has so far been fruitless, and highly-rated No 9 Alexander Isak is exploring a move away from the club.
Howe insists, however, that the club will not compromise on quality or overreact to the possibility of losing their top scorer.
“We’re looking for the best players we can get,” said Howe. “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.
“That’s always been the way that we try to work and the way that we try to recruit, and I think we’ve done it pretty well to this point.”
Isak’s absence from the pre-season tour of Asia, and the period he spent away from Newcastle, training instead at his former club Real Sociedad are bad optics for the Magpies.
The club had moved early in the window to sign Hugo Ekitike, but he chose Liverpool instead. Moves for Joao Pedro and Liam Delap were also unsuccessful. The club’s plan had been to supplement the brilliant Isak with another top-quality striker, with the possibility of even playing a two-man attack in a 4-4-2 next season.
But now they face the possibility of having no established striker at all. The 20-year-old Will Osula was the club’s only recognised striker on the Asia tour. Nevertheless, the Magpies are remaining focused on bringing in players who can make a difference, according to the manager.
“It’s been a challenging summer because we’ve missed out on various targets for lots of different reasons,” said Howe. “But we’re still competing and we’re still trying to bring in players who can make a real difference.”
