Arsenal’s hopes of signing Alexander Isak have been dealt a blow despite Newcastle seemingly needing to offload players this month. Isak enhanced his already growing reputation this week by scoring at the Emirates on Tuesday, as the Magpies secured a 2-0 first leg lead in their Carabao Cup semi-final.
It was the Swedish international’s 15th goal of the season, and further sparked speculation of interest from top level clubs.
And it’s the Gunners currently being most heavily linked, with their perceived lack of clinical ability again in the spotlight after the first leg with Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz among those to miss guilt-edged chances.
Isak is currently contracted at St James’ Park until 2028, although has reportedly told club bosses he wants the club to secure Champions League football next season if he is to stay. And according to renowned football scout Mick Brown, the club will instead look to raise funds with sales elsewhere in order to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.
“They’re being forced to sell fringe players because of these financial issues,” the former Man Utd and Sunderland man told Football Insider. “They’ve got a lot of players like Almiron and Harvey Barnes who haven’t sealed a first-team place, but are decent players for rotation.
“Under normal circumstances, if there were no other issues, that wouldn’t bother Newcastle. They’d be happy to keep them as fringe players who can come into the side as and when needed, but it isn’t like that at the moment. They’re being forced to sell fringe players because of these financial issues.”
And Jones cited Isak, along with Bruno Guimaraes, as two players the club are desperate to keep. “Newcastle don’t want to sell their star players, they want to keep their team as strong as possible,” he added.
Barnes in particular has played an important role this season, despite failing to nail down a regular place in the starting XI. He’s made 24 appearances in all competitions, scoring five times.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe this week hit out at the FFP rules, which he blamed for the club having to sell Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh in the summer. It’s a notion that has restricted the Geordie outfit financially despite being taken over by a consortium of the Saudi Public Investment Fund in 2021.
“The business logic is taking over from the football logic,” he said. “There may be football decisions you’d like to make. Nothing was bigger than the previous summer when we had to lose two highly promising young players – we were forced to, we had no choice.”
Given his current form, any bids for Isak will need to be extortionate, with Newcastle not needing to panic about losing him on a free transfer anytime soon. The player himself has refused to comment on speculation, insisting he remains focused on his current club.
