Eddie Howe says he only wants players in his Newcastle squad this season who ‘really want’ to be at the club, in a first indication he could be open to the sale of Alexander Isak.
The Swede is not training with his team-mates and will not play in the Premier League opener at Aston Villa next weekend after letting it be known to Howe and the club he wants to join Liverpool.
That move will not happen until Newcastle sign at least one replacement striker and the Premier League champions return with an acceptable offer – a £110million bid was rejected last week. Howe’s ideal scenario is that Isak changes his mind and decides to stay, but he knows that is unlikely.
And the head coach admitted that players who do not wish to be at club are not what he wants.
‘I think everything is at play (Isak stays or goes), because he is contracted to us, he’s our player,’ said Howe.
‘The club basically make the decision on his future. I don’t know what that will be. Of course, I have a preferred outcome. I want the best and strongest squad possible. But also, I want players that really want to play for this football club.’
Eddie Howe says he only wants players in his Newcastle squad this season who ‘really want’ to be at the club
Alexander Isak is not training with his team-mates and will not play in the opener at Aston Villa
The Swede has let it be known to Howe and the club he wants to join Liverpool
Howe was asked if he could persuade Isak to stay.
‘If it was that easy I’d be doing it, and I’d have done it yesterday, but it’s not,’ he said.
The Newcastle boss revealed on Friday night that, after conversations with Isak, it was clear he could not train with the squad or play in matches.
Howe reiterated: ‘I want him training and I want him playing for us. So I think by that you can see my want and wish. But from both sides, it has to be right.’
Ultimately, the decision on whether to sell Isak rests with the club’s Saudi owners. The message from the top remains that he is not for sale, but there is also an acceptance among some that an exit, on Newcastle’s terms, could be best for the club going forward, which is why they pursued the likes of Joao Pedro, Hugo Ekitike and Benjamin Sesko as replacements for the 25-year-old.
Howe said: ‘That (decision to sell Isak) will be for other people to make. I think for me, I’m just trying to manage the situation and manage the team, most importantly. To manage the group of players that I’m working with day-to-day, that I love coaching and helping, and we’re focusing on Aston Villa. Everything else, to a degree, from my perspective, is not in my control, so it’s not my focus.’
Newcastle were beaten 2-0 by Atletico Madrid on Saturday, as they signed off from pre-season with four defeats and two draws from six matches.
There was an injury scare when Anthony Gordon, who will deputise for Isak at Villa Park, limped off late on, but Howe said: ‘We hope he’s okay. I think he’s got an ankle problem. The good news is it was just a twist. So the initial feeling is he should be OK.’
Howe says the decision on whether to sell Isak rests with the club’s Saudi owners
The Newcastle boss had revealed that after conversations with Isak, it was clear he could not train with the squad or play in matches.
Newcastle were beaten 2-0 by Atletico Madrid on Saturday, as they signed off from pre-season
There was some more good news off the pitch, with Milan defender Malick Thiaw set to arrive on Tyneside for a medical after the clubs agreed a £34.3m deal.
But the priority will quickly switch back to signing a striker, as it was put to Howe that supporters will be concerned at the absence of a ‘goalscorer’ going into the new campaign.
‘I think in the pre-season games, that would be a fair assessment,’ he said. ‘I don’t think I’m thinking any different, but we can still win football matches.
‘We need to turn the margins and the little things in our favour, so we need to look across the board at how we can get more goals into the team, and that’s always been part of the coach’s job, to find a way to win – that’s what we’ve got to do.’
Of the turbulent summer and the potential impact on Newcastle’s season, Howe added: ‘I’ve always tried to keep a very balanced view on things, it’s never as good as you think it is when you feel good, and it’s never as bad as you think it is when you feel bad.
‘At the moment, I’m very neutral. I’ve seen the challenges and I know the challenges that we face. This is new territory for us, but I also believe from those tough moments you can actually build something even more special, if you come out the other side, and that’s a big if.
‘So for me, the priority now is the players that we have fit and available, and making sure they’re fully understanding of what’s expected of them and making sure we’re resilient enough to deal with a lot of outside noise, a lot of speculation on us, which through no fault of our own is negative, and we need to cut that out, and unite even stronger.’
