Alexander Isak has not travelled with the Newcastle United squad for their pre-season trip to Singapore. The Swede has been the subject of rampant transfer rumours this summer but the Magpies insist he has only been left out because of a minor thigh injury.
Liverpool have approached Newcastle to discuss the prospect of doing a £120million deal for Isak. While the Toon insist he is not for sale at any price, senior figures at St. James’ Park are reportedly worried that his head has been turned by the lengths one of the Premier League’s top clubs is willing to go in order to sign him.
Reds boss Arne Slot has already welcomed a major addition to his forward ranks with the £79m signing of Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt. But it is understood that Liverpool remain interested in Isak even with Ekitike poised to take up the centre-forward role this coming season.
Newcastle announced the travelling squad for their pre-season tour of Asia on Thursday morning. They posted on X: “Eddie Howe has an almost fully-fit squad to choose from, however, Alexander Isak misses out with a minor thigh injury.”
Isak was left out of Newcastle’s last pre-season outing, against Celtic on Saturday, due to the speculation surrounding his future. He was then spotted training separately from the main group earlier this week, with reports indicating that it was a precautionary measure after the Swede complained about discomfort in his thigh.
He is said to have undergone a scan which came back clear, although the issue is clearly concerning enough for Newcastle to leave him out of their trip to Asia, which will take in a friendly clash with Arsenal on Sunday before they move on to South Korea.
There, they will play a K-League All-Star team and Premier League rivals Tottenham as Howe looks to give his players a workout ahead of the new campaign.
Newcastle could be stung a second time by Liverpool if Isak decides to try and force through a move to Anfield. The Magpies were in talks over a move for Ekitike, and they had even submitted a bid to Frankfurt before the Reds muscled in to complete the deal themselves.
Anthony Elanga is the only senior signing Newcastle have made up to this point in a summer which Howe led into by publicly telling club chiefs that ‘speed’ would be a key factor in conducting successful business.
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