Eddie Howe makes Alexander Isak decision as Newcastle United push on with transfer bid.
What does Benjamin Sesko’s reported preference to join Manchester United mean for Newcastle..
Newcastle United will make a big decision on Alexander Isak today with Eddie Howe expected to come face to face with the Sweden striker for the first time in a fortnight.
It’s crunch time in some ways for Isak and comes amid a backdrop of big claims of Benjamin Sesko choosing Manchester United over the Magpies, although Toon sources indicated this morning they had not had a final decision from the RB Leipzig star communicated to them yet.
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As much as getting Sesko or another centre-forward signed is an urgent issues, Howe is trying his best to control the controllable with Isak’s potential re-integration to the senior squad at the top of his in-tray today.
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Chronicle Live understands that Howe’s initial wish for Isak was for him to train with the rest of the group ahead of clashes against Espanyol on Friday and Atletico Madrid on Saturday in the Sela Cup encounter at St James’ Park.
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Howe is not concerned that Isak’s return to the squad will be met with any hostility from his team-mates with both Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon expressing sympathy for the striker in interviews with Chronicle Live last week.
Regardless of the Isak and Sesko sagas, Howe is acutely aware that Newcastle face their public back at St James’ Park in the games against the two La Liga outfits. And he wants the right tone and right message delivered as more than 100,000 Newcastle fans get to see where the Magpies are at for the first time in home soil since May.
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Howe opted against holding a pre-match Press conference ahead of the two matches but will face journalists after both games.
It means that there will be no on-the-record answers on Isak in the lead-up to the Espanyol game but we understand that Howe’s intentions are to essentially make the striker play depending on fitness levels.
Any type of Isak absence will hurl Newcastle into a new transfer storm and heap more fuel on to the fire after his agent Vlado Lemic’s plots behind Newcastle’s back to get his player out of St James’ Park.
But the harsh reality is that Isak has had his head turned by Lemic and Newcastle don’t need to be told that he ultimately wants to join Liverpool.
The longer Newcastle go without a replacement coming in, though, the harder they can make it for the Reds and Isak, and the door remains ajar for the Sweden striker to wear a black and white shirt again.
Howe has so far resisted going in with a sledgehammer on his striker as he knows he may have to rely on him in the near future.
But Newcastle are still pushing ahead with moves to bring in a top-class forward, despite difficulties on the Isak and Sesko front. The word from in the boardroom at St James’ Park is that Newcastle do have money to spend with PSR issues behind them now.
Howe said to us last week: “We are looking at the best players we can get. We are only looking at the best we can get, I see all situations open and available to us. I feel that is the only way we are going to get where we want to go, which is to maximise quality over quantity.
“It has been a challenging summer as you know. We have missed out on loads of different targets for different reasons. But we are still very competitive and we are still in there trying to bring good players to the club, that won’t change until the window shuts.”
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One alternative target could be Paris St-Germain striker Gonçalo Ramos, who Newcastle tried to sign from Benfica a couple of summers ago. However, the Champions League winners want at least €60m for his services.
Newcastle still like Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins and Brentford’s wantaway star Yoane Wissa, but Howe knows that neither fit the bill of an Isak alternative and if either did arrive they’d be coming in as Callum Wilson’s replacement.
However, the clock is ticking and if Sesko does go to Man United as many expect now, Newcastle will face a race against time to sign a striker to start the clash against Aston Villa.
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Howe told me before leaving Seoul: “There’s not much time left (to get a player in for Villa). Especially when you consider you have to get any player up to speed with how we play, whoever comes in.
“And get into the intricacies of what we do. It is not easy and it is not easy for people to do that straight away.
“We are still active in the market and looking for players.”
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Newcastle are not helped by the absence of a sporting director or a CEO, but sources behind the scenes insist that with PIF officials alongside them, Howe is capable of getting quick answers from the powers that be and internally the levels of ambition can’t be questioned.
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