Newcastle players Bruno Guimaraes and Dan Burn have spoken out after Alexander Isak informed the club he wanted to leave. In a seismic blow to Eddie Howe and his squad, the Swedish striker was left out of the club’s pre-season tour before telling chiefs he wanted £300,000-a-week wages to consider staying.
The development follows reported interest from Liverpool. The Reds are now expected to make a £120million bid, with the North East club facing a huge fight to keep the 25-year-old. Speaking from Singapore, vice-captain Burn has commented on whether Isak merits the right to try and further his career.
“Listen, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion,” he told the Daily Mail. “But I think we can just control what we can control. That’s a question for Alex to answer. He’s obviously a big player for us, but we do have a lot of quality in the squad as well.”
Burn, 33, also added Isak had not trained fully since the squad returned to pre-season due to a thigh injury. He also argued that Newcastle’s signing of Anthony Elanga underlined their ambition to still be successful.
Skipper Guimaraes defended Isak’s character but insisted the situation couldn’t be handled by the players, adding: “I’m really close to him. He’s a good guy. He’s been through some rough things at this moment.
“My focus is with the lads. Isak is something I cannot control. The club has control of it. I hope he’s going to be fit when we come back to Newcastle to prepare for the new season. They told us he was there in Newcastle because of his injury.”
However, he conceded that the forward, who scored 27 club goals last season, was crucial to the club: “Of course he’s a top player for us, and he’s going to be a miss on this trip,” he said. We need him ready as soon as possible.”
The Magpies play Arsenal at the Singapore National Stadium on Sunday, before further games against a K-League XI and Tottenham. Their opening Premier League fixture is at Aston Villa on August 16.