Alexander Isak has stayed behind in Newcastle while his team-mates are travelling to Singapore for their pre-season tour.
The striker trained alone on Tuesday amid mounting speculation over his future due to interest from Liverpool.
Liverpool have been told Isak is not for sale and would likely have to spend upwards of £125million to convince their Premier League rivals to sell.
It is unclear what Liverpool’s policy will be after they announced the £79m signing of striker Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday.
But Mail Sport’s Craig Hope can reveal that Isak has not travelled to Singapore, where Eddie Howe’s men will take on Arsenal.
The reason given is that Isak is nursing a minor thigh injury and a long haul flight would not help in his recovery.
While Toon fans may be tempted to breathe a sigh of relief over the fact Liverpool have signed Eiktike, Isak’s agent Gonzalo Gaitan confirmed to Saudi Arabian newspaper Arriyadiyah that he is assessing his options.
‘We are indeed studying and analysing all options, and we may be close to finalising the next step for the player,’ Gaitan said.
‘Without revealing any details regarding whether Isak will transfer or stay with Newcastle.’
Isak, 25, is also a target for moneybag clubs from the Middle Eastern nation.
According to talkSPORT, Isak and his representatives have made his demands clear over conditions for a new contract, with the Swedish star reportedly seeking £300,000-a-week to commit his future to the club.
It would more than double the £120,000-a-week wages currently earned by Isak under a six-year deal he agreed in 2022, when he signed from Real Sociedad for £60m.
The demands would break Newcastle’s tightly controlled wage structure. Bruno Guimaraes is listed as their highest-paid star on database Capology with a salary of £160,000 per week.
Isak was left out of Newcastle’s 4-0 pre-season defeat to Celtic on Saturday, with manager Eddie Howe later admitting the decision was due to ongoing speculation over the striker’s future.
Howe said speaking after the friendly match: ‘I chose to send him home.
‘The last thing Alex wants if he is not playing is to be sat in the stand and under that scrutiny, then if he wasn’t going to play today, we mutually agreed he shouldn’t be here.
‘It was my decision. He travelled back to Glasgow with us, but I decided to send him home due to the speculation around him. Both [Joelinton and Isak] are fit but not ready to play. Alex has trained and is fine but we didn’t want to take the risk with him.
‘Yes, I’ve had discussions with him, but that’s not abnormal,’ he added. ‘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.
‘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.
‘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.’
More to follow.
