Fabrizio Romano gives Alexander Isak update after £83m Newcastle United 'agreement' & Liverpool swap claims
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has shut down any speculation linking Alexander Isak with a move away from Newcastle United - for now at least.
The transfer speculation regarding Isak’s future has been rife with the striker scoring 19 goals for Newcastle so far this season. Liverpool, Arsenal and Barcelona have been linked with a move for Isak this summer which has led to some interesting transfer rumours emerging.
There were claims from Spain of a ‘verbal agreement’ between Newcastle and Isak to allow the striker to sign for a Champions League club for just £83million should The Magpies miss out on the competition. £83million is significantly lower than Newcastle’s valuation of the player.
Football Insider have reported that Liverpool would try and tempt Newcastle to sell Isak by offering a cash-plus-player deal involving Uruguayan forward Darwin Nunez.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has played down any immediate talk of a potential exit for Isak, stating the striker’s ‘full focus’ is on Newcastle.
Romano told Give Me Sport: “Nothing ongoing in terms of contacts now for Isak, full focus on Newcastle. Time for talks and decisions on future will be in the summer."
Newcastle United prepare for Alexander Isak talks
Isak has scored 54 goals in 97 appearances for Newcastle since his £63million club-record arrival from Real Sociedad in 2022. He is a key player under Eddie Howe and the club has remained firm in their stance in wanting to keep hold of the forward.
Howe recently stated that the club ‘can’t lose’ players like Isak and fortunately, they are under no serious PSR pressure to do so.
“We have to try and keep our best players,” Howe said. “I think that’s crucial to our short-term success and our long-term success, so sitting here as the manager of the football club I’d be saying we need to keep the group together and we need to add the other way.
"We haven't added [to the first team] in a long time in various transfer windows, for the reasons we've all discussed. But we need to move the team forward and we can't lose our best players.”
Isak remains under contract at Newcastle until June 2028 though the club are keen to avoid that running down and are prepared to enter talks over a new deal once the 2024-25 season is concluded. By then the picture will be clear as to where Newcastle stand in terms of Champions League qualification as well as potential success in the domestic cups.