Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has confirmed that striker Alexander Isak will play no part in this weekend’s EPL clash against Liverpool.
Isak, 25, missed the Magpies league opener against Aston Villa last Saturday and has been ruled out of Monday’s home game against the Premier League champions.
The Sweden forward has revealed his desire to leave the club this summer, with growing interest from Liverpool, who have had a £110 million offer already rejected.
He was absent from the PFA awards ceremony on Tuesday and released a statement later that night, voicing his discontent at the situation.
“There’s been no change — he won’t be a part of the squad for this weekend’s game,” Howe said in his news conference on Friday.
“He’s contracted to us, he’s our player. My wish is he’d be playing Monday night with us but he won’t be and that’s regrettable. I 100% want to see him back in a Newcastle shirt.”
Isak missed the club’s preseason tour of Asia and has trained away from his teammates since returning to the club’s training facilities.
The Magpies have missed out on Benjamin Sesko and Victor Gyokeres while Brentford’s reluctance to sell Yoanne Wissa makes an exit difficult for Isak.
“My preference is it doesn’t happen publicly,” he continued. “Everything is better dealt with behind closed doors. But needs must, and in this situation the club has spoken, and probably justifiably so in that moment.
I haven’t seen him this week. When I see him, we speak as normal. There’s no issues. Of course it’s a difficult situation for both sides and it’s far from ideal for both parties. He’s training later on detached from the group but we will I’m sure catch up at some stage”, Howe added.
“The relationship between our fans and Isak can still be good. The fans will always react to the way a player plays.”
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