Alexander Isak is returning to the UK and is set to resume training with Newcastle United following a spell working individually at Real Sociedad.
Isak has been training alone at his former club’s Zubieta Facilities in the Basque country, but is now set to return to Newcastle’s base – although the majority of the rest of the first team squad are currently on a pre-season tour in Asia.
The news of Isak’s return comes the day after The Athletic reported that Newcastle had rejected a formal bid from Liverpool of £110million for the Sweden international, who wants to leave St James’ Park this summer.
Liverpool’s stance is that they are not inclined to bid again after the quick rebuttal to their first offer, but their interest in the player is ongoing.
The Premier League champions initially made an informal approach to Newcastle, expressing interest in doing a deal in the region of £120m, as reported by The Athletic on July 15.
Newcastle, who will compete in the Champions League next season, have tried to tie Isak to an improved contract which would include a release clause next summer, and attempted to convince him to stay through his senior team-mates. The forward, however, has not changed his stance, which has been made clear to the club for some time.
Isak has been absent from Newcastle’s pre-season tour of Asia, with sources, speaking anonymously as they were not authorised to do so publicly, saying the decision was the player’s preference. The club cited a minor thigh problem for his absence.
Speaking on Saturday, ahead of Newcastle’s pre-season friendly with Tottenham Hotspur in Seoul, South Korea, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said the club continued to support Isak and hoped he would remain in the north east.
“I really don’t know what is going to happen next, but from our perspective, we still support Alex in every way, and my wish is still that we see him in a Newcastle shirt again,” Howe said.
Newcastle have begun searching for potential replacements for Isak, whose contract has three years remaining, despite the club’s ongoing stance that he is not for sale.
Liverpool completed the signing of Hugo Ekitike from Frankfurt earlier this month, a forward Newcastle also held interest in, for an initial £69m.
Newcastle subsequently made RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko their top candidate and have made a bid worth €80m for the Slovenia, who is also of interest to Manchester United.
Liverpool have been active in the summer transfer window, signing Florian Wirtz for a club record €136.3million (£116m) transfer fee from Bayer Leverkusen in June, also adding Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Ekitike to their squad. Goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili joined the club after his transfer from Valencia was agreed last summer.
Liverpool are expected to have plenty of headroom with the Premier League profit and sustainability rules (PSR) for 2025-26 with The Athletic estimating a comfortably profitable 2024-25 season.
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