In a bracingly honest post-match press conference that followed a 4-0 defeat at Celtic Park, Howe spoke of a determination “from the top of the club” to keep hold of Isak, hailed him as irreplaceable and said he was confident he would start the season with Newcastle.
square FOOTBALL InterviewAlexander Isak 'staying focused' at Newcastle despite Liverpool interest
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This was the first time that Howe has spoken in what is proving a difficult summer at St James’ Park.
While he said he was hopeful of further incomings to follow Anthony Elanga’s £55m move Howe did not offer any guarantees. He admitted Newcastle “were not the biggest payers”, with some of their targets having more lucrative offers elsewhere.
Asked if he could deliver guarantees on Isak, he said: “I think it’s difficult for me to ever give 100 per cent clarity on any player. I’d never do that because it’s football and you never know what could happen.
“Certainly, I’m confident that he’s going to be here at the start of the season.”
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“From board to staff to players. We value his qualities, as a person, so it’s very strong.”
Howe clarified that nothing should be read into Isak not being with the squad – there are no active negotiations with any club – and explained that his absence was more to do with protecting him from the scrutiny that would have followed a week of intense speculation.
“It’s not an easy thing to understand when you’re fielding, no doubt from his perspective, phone calls, text messages, players and people asking him… because the media now is so strong and the media message goes far and wide and that scrutiny in part, that’s 10% of the reason why he wasn’t here today because I just want him to focus on himself and his training ready for next week.”
And they are set to walk away from a move for James Trafford after Burnley refused to budget on their £40m asking price.
Yoane Wissa was touted as an alternative striker option but Brentford will not do Newcastle any favours after selling Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester United. They can expect to pay a Premier League premium of £10-15m over his market value to do that deal.
“I wish I could give you clarity, I wish I could give you some kind of guarantee that’s going to happen but I can’t,” he said.
“For a transfer to really work, in my opinion, the player has to be desperate to come to your club and if you don’t get that the transfer doesn’t work.
All of this is playing out against the backdrop of Newcastle taking on another summer transfer window with uncertainty at the top. No director of football appointment is expected before the end of August while CEO Darren Eales continues to work his notice.
“My phone exploded,” he said.
“So I’ve experienced this before and I know sort of the cost that that departure comes with. So it wasn’t a good first couple of days on holiday for me.”
Things can change quickly, of course, but at the moment it feels as if momentum is against Newcastle in a pivotal summer.
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