Eddie Howe confirms Newcastle United transfer summer stance after £150m Yasir Al-Rumayyan message

Isak’s impressive goalscoring form for Newcastle this season has seen him labelled as one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe heading into the summer transfer window.

But Newcastle’s stance has been firm with club chairman and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan delivering a message behind the scenes to the club’s hierarchy to keep top scorer Isak at all costs this summer. According to Mail Online, Al-Rumayyan wants Newcastle to ‘resist any offers’ for the 25-year-old amid interest from Arsenal, Liverpool and Barcelona.

Isak has scored 26 goals in all competitions so far this season and has 61 goals in 106 games since joining Newcastle for a club record £63million fee from Real Sociedad in 2022. He remains under contract until 2028 and talks regarding a new deal are expected to take place over the summer.

There have been reported valuations of £150million for the striker, which would represent a Premier League record transfer and make Isak the third most expensive player of all time. But that valuation will price most clubs out of a move for Isak this summer.

Eddie Howe’s clear Alexander Isak transfer message

When asked about whether Isak was ‘for sale’ at Newcastle this summer, head coach Eddie Howe responded: “He’s not for sale from my perspective.

“I want to build a squad and I want the strongest squad possible for next season. There is a lot to look forward to here, hopefully.

“The end of the season is crucial for us. I think we have a strong squad and if we can add players for the first time in a few windows, that will make a massive, massive difference for us. That’s what I’m focussing on, not the other way around.”

“We want to keep our best players. I think I’ve made that very clear. That’s not just the wish from me, that’s the wish from everyone at the club. I don’t have a crystal ball.

“I can’t sit here and say what’s going to happen. I can only say what my determination is and it is to build a team, the best team possible and to do that you can’t consistently lose your best players.”

Alexander Isak ‘dip in form’?

Isak has scored three goals in six games for Newcastle since the Carabao Cup final win in March but has not been quite as deadly in front of goal in recent matches, raising questions about his recent form.

“Well he’s still scoring important goals for us and that’s never lost on me, none more so than the penalty last week,” Howe replied. “You would probably be expected to score a penalty but that was a key moment in the game, 0-0 against Ipswich when we needed him to be really cool, do his job and score the goal. Which he did.

“I’d say we haven’t found a way to get him involved in the game as much, certainly against Ipswich we didn’t. Second half he came alive to a degree but I think there is more to come from Alex than he has shown in recent weeks.

“But we are working towards that, you have to be mindful he has had a couple of little niggles in his groin and that limited his ability to train. He has trained fine this week and has looked good. He is a difference maker and we need him at 100%.”

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