Eddie Howe has revealed that his relationship with Alexander Isak changed after his star player went on strike.
The Newcastle boss has spoken for the first time since the Swede’s £125million British record move to Liverpool on deadline day.
Isak refused to train with his team-mates as he attempted to force an exit this summer, and he and Howe did not speak after the player released an incendiary statement on August 19. In that, he claimed that promises were broken and trust had been lost.
Howe has always denied ever promising that Isak could leave the club, but he admits their relationship was not the same after he made himself unavailable to train or play.
‘Alex and I always enjoyed a great relationship,’ said the Newcastle boss. ‘I loved working with him and I hope he loved working with us. It was mutually beneficial. We helped him become the player that he in part is today. And he helped us as a team achieve some unbelievable milestones. He was part of a very successful team.
Alexander Isak and Eddie Howe had a ‘great relationship’ until the dynamic ‘changed’
‘But to give you a bit more on that, the moment he went on strike our relationship did change. I think that was probably a turning point in our relationship. Communication became difficult from that point onwards. I won’t go into any more detail than that.’
Meanwhile, one of the players brought in to replace Isak, forward Yoane Wissa, is out of Saturday’s home game versus Wolves.
He returned from international duty with DR Congo on Thursday after suffering a knee injury during Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat by Senegal and was immediately sent for a scan.
There was hope he’d be OK to train on Friday and make his debut this weekend, but Howe said: ‘Unfortunately he won’t make this game. I saw him for the first time yesterday and he’s feeling the effects of the injury sustained just before he came off (on Tuesday). We’re going to have to see how he is. ‘It’s a knee injury but I don’t know any more than that. We only saw him for the first time yesterday.’
Fellow summer signing Jacob Ramsey is set to miss the next seven matches with an ankle injury and won’t return until after the next international break. Nick Woltemade is in line for his debut after arriving from Stuttgart for £69million last month.
