Alexander Isak has been associated with a transfer from Newcastle to Liverpool throughout the summer and now the Swedish striker has told the club that he wants to consider his options
Newcastle stars than Burn and Bruno Guimaraes have broken their silence on transfer speculation around Alexander Isak and admit that the striker goes through “raw things” after he has told the club that he wants to leave this summer.
Isak is one of the most coveted players in the transfer window after a sensational season for the Magpies last season, because he yielded 27 goals and the team helped to win the Carabao Cup.
He was strongly associated with a move to Liverpool, which would probably have to break the British transfer record again after he had already done this to bring Florian Wirtz to Anfield for £ 116.5 million last month.
Isak would travel to Singapore with Newcastle for their tour for the season, but was left at home while feeding a thigh injury. Baas Eddie Howe has previously excluded him from a friendly defeat against Celtic last week, concerned that speculation could have influenced his mindset.
Speaking with the Daily Mail in Singapore, Burn was cautious about the situation of Isak and said there was little that the team could do it – instead focus his attention on new signing Anthony Elanga.
He said: “Listen, everyone has the right to their own opinion. But I think we can simply determine what we can control. That is a question for Alex to answer. He is clearly a big player for us, but we also have a lot of quality in the team.
“Also bringing in Anthony (Elanga), which I think was a great signing. Alex did not train with a thigh problem that is still ongoing since he was the first few days ago.”
In the meantime, club captain Guimaraes admitted that the player was going through “some rough things”, but insisted that he hoped that the player would return for the club prior to the new Premier League season.
“I am really close to him (Isak). He is a good guy. He has experienced a number of rough things at the moment. My focus is on the boys. Isak is something that I cannot control. The club has control. I hope he will be fit when we come back to Newcastle to prepare for the new season.
“They told us that he was there in Newcastle because of his injury. Of course he is a top player for us and he will be a miss on this trip. We need him ready as quickly as possible.”
Liverpool would probably have to offer no less than £ 150 million if they wanted to sign Isak and it would take out a remarkable summer of spending for the Reds, which had already spent £ 265 million on Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Hugo Ekitike.
Ekitike just arrived from Eintracht Frankfurt for about £ 79 million and would be the leading man for the Reds and adding Isak would give the Reds a serious firepower while they want to keep their Premier League title.
But Newcastle -boss Howe has insisted that he expects Isak to stay in St James' park for the new season and said that he was “trusting” that he would not leave.
“I am convinced that he will be a Newcastle player, the end of the window,” he said. “We have some of those players who are irreplaceable. Your top players are so hard to find, so hard to recruit and so hard to develop.
“So if you have them, you have to cherish them. Of course we are desperate to keep it as part of our team.”