Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has revealed that the club simply cannot sanction Alexander Isak’s exit to Liverpool without buying a new striker themselves.
The Isak transfer saga reached a new peak in midweek when the exiled centre forward took to social media to go public with his claims of “broken” promises. Newcastle promptly fired back with a blunt response of their own which effectively ruled out of the prospect of Isak leaving this summer.
Howe recently claimed that this ongoing drama will “come to an end pretty quickly” although what that resolution may be is still up for debate. The English coach was at pains to make one thing abundantly clear; Newcastle will not be left in the lurch by their star player’s potential departure.
It was put to Howe whether the Magpies would be willing to let Isak depart without bringing in a direct replacement. “I don’t think the club will allow that situation to happen,” he huffed.
“We certainly can’t go through the season with no recognised striker at the football club—and that’s no disrespect to Will Osula. I think he’s doing really well and he’s progressing really well, but he’s got limited experience in the Premier League, although I’m really happy with his career progression.
“But Alex at the moment would be the only striker we have with Premier League history of goals and appearances and starts, so we can’t leave ourselves in that position.”
Anthony Gordon filled in for Isak against Aston Villa on the opening weekend of the season yet failed to force any breakthrough in a goalless draw. More of a natural winger rather than a centre forward in the mould of Isak, Howe admitted: “I don’t think anyone can fill Alex’s boots and Anthony will know that himself.
“He’s not trying to be Alex, he’s got to be himself. If he’d scored against Aston Villa, you’d go, ‘that’s the perfect No. 9 performance’. I think he had seven shots in the game, he looked a threat, he got a man sent off.
“He was using his qualities, which are his pace and his dribbling skills, so I thought it was a really good performance from him. Yes, of course we were missing the goal from the team’s overall performance, but hopefully those will come.”
In a tantalising twist from the fixture computer, Newcastle host Liverpool on Monday evening. Isak won’t be involved on the pitch, but the subject of this summer’s biggest transfer saga will still dominate proceedings.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘We Can’t’—Eddie Howe Sets Firm Conditions for Alexander Isak Transfer to Liverpool.