Alexander Isak withdraws from Newcastle United squad as imminent signing watches on at Celtic - five things
Newcastle United were beaten 4-0 by Celtic in their opening pre-season friendly match in front of a crowd - here are five talking points from the match.
The game was initially evenly matched with Newcastle starting with an experienced line-up including the likes of Nick Pope, Sven Botman, Fabian Schar, Kieran Trippier, Bruno Guimaraes, Joe Willock and Jacob Murphy.
But once Willock conceded a penalty midway through the first half, Celtic took full advantage with Arne Engels converting before Johnny Kenny capitalised on a Pope gift to make it 2-0 to the hosts before the break.
Yang Hjun-jun and Liam Scales found the net in the second half to secure a comfortable win for Celtic.
But that didn’t quite tell the full story from Newcastle’s perspective, as there were many more big talking points surrounding the match...
No Alexander Isak for Newcastle United
After a week of transfer speculation surrounding Alexander Isak, a big statement by the club would have been to assure fans by having the striker feature at Celtic Park.
But that was not a luxury Eddie Howe had, according to the Newcastle boss. It was decided that Isak, along with Joelinton, would have their ‘minutes managed’ early in pre-season after suffering with injury at the back end of the 2024/25 campaign and over the summer.
After the match, Howe revealed: “Both players are fit, but we just felt they weren't ready to play.
“Everyone, through pre-season, goes through different challenges. Joe's coming back from a long injury, so we need to make sure when he's introduced, he's ready.
“Alex has trained this week and he's fine, but we didn't want to take the risk with him today.
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“Alex was with us all the way through Austria, but today, with all the speculation and things that are going on, I decided to send him home.
“It's purely the last thing Alex wants if he's not playing, is to be sat in the stand. Being under that scrutiny, I don't think that's fair to the player.”
But the effort to take Isak out of the spotlight has only fuelled the transfer speculation. Isak and Joelinton being left out is fair enough, but Joelinton’s presence at Celtic Park and Isak’s absence raises more questions than answers.
When asked if he expects Isak to travel with the squad to Asia next week, Howe added: “Yes, absolutely, yes.
“I think it's difficult for me to give 100% clarity on any player [staying]. I'd never sit here and do that because it's football and you never know what could happen. All I can say is that Alex is happy at Newcastle.”
New NUFC signing spotted at Celtic Park
We’ll get on to Anthony Elanga in a minute, but there was an incoming signing spotted in the stands at Celtic Park.
Now, before you get too excited, it wasn’t a first-team addition but instead 18-year-old South Korean winger Park Seung-soo.
The teenager has travelled over from South Korea to complete his medical and finalise a move from Suwon Bluewings. It comes after a trial at Bayern Munich and interest from a number of Premier League clubs.
The winger is set to join up with Newcastle’s Under-21s side this coming season with the transfer tying in with the club’s trip to South Korea later this month.
Pre-season, especially early on, isn’t exactly the time to get too bogged down in results and performances but it did highlight the work Newcastle have to do between now and the opening day of the season against Aston Villa in less than four weeks.
Captain Bruno Guimaraes was the only player who really turned up for Eddie Howe’s side. The Brazilian was the best player in possession and sprayed the ball around the park well.
But there were few other positive performances to take from the game. Jamaal Lascelles returned for his first match in front of a crowd since his ACL injury against West Ham United in March 2024, a welcome boost for Howe’s side.
Sean Neave also got on the pitch for the first time in a first-team match in a stadium and came close to scoring with a header late on only to be denied by a good save from the Celtic goalkeeper.
William Osula had led the line before Neave’s introduction and had plenty of chances as one of Newcastle’s more lively players, but lacked the end product.
The only real positive to take from the game is the hope that it is the wake up call needed to sharpen minds and focus heading into the new season after a sleepy couple of months.
Anthony Elanga makes NUFC debut
The match marked the first time Newcastle fans, of which there were 10,000 at Celtic Park, got to see new signing Elanga in action for the club.
It was a debut to forget for the Swedish winger in terms of the result as his introduction was unable to help swing the game in Newcastle’s favour. There was a couple of sparks of intent and energy from the winger, who looked brighter as the half wore on but his overall impact, like many of his teammates, was minimal.
Eddie Howe sends clear transfer message
Signing Elanga is all well and good for Newcastle, but Howe made it clear he wanted more players through the door in time for the Celtic game. The lack of activity on the transfer front, or rather the lack of successful activity, is becoming a real frustration and risks leaving Newcastle short once again heading into a Champions League campaign.
With money to spend, Champions League football on offer as well as the pull of a recent major trophy win, this summer was lining up to be a big one for Newcastle. Howe even said as such and stressed his desire to get business done quickly.
Instead, for various reasons, that has failed to materialise. With less than a month to go before the start of the competitive season, Newcastle’s squad is currently in a weaker place than when it started the transfer window.
Progress is needed, and quickly.