Inside PIF’s thinking on Isak – and their future plans for Newcastle ...Middle East

In a matter of weeks Newcastle United will finally announce their new chief executive.

For David Hopkinson, the former Real Madrid executive anointed by Saudi Arabi’s Public Investment Fund to take over from Darren Eales as early as this month, there is much work to do. If a bruising and at times brutal summer has illustrated anything, it is that Newcastle really need the re-set their owners are planning for the autumn months.

-Alexander Isak age at St James’ Park begins on Tuesday and among the regret there will be huge relief on Tyneside that a tortuous saga has concluded with the season damaged but not destroyed. Long-term there is opportunity as well as risk. It is not over-stating things to say that 2 September marks the first day of a new era at Newcastle.

First things first – did PIF collapse on Isak? Their position certainly vacillated over the summer months but beneath all the posturing everyone at the club has wrestled with the central dilemma of whether Isak, having mentally checked out back in July, could ever truly return to the fold.

From day one, the preference was always to keep a supremely talented striker at St James’ Park. Howe tried various ways to talk him around before PIF took the lead and a final attempt was made to bring him back last Monday, just before the Liverpool game.

But the strength of his response – on top of his shameful conduct over the summer – meant the die was effectively cast. Howe’s style relies on players being “all in”, committed to a high-energy, pressing game. A de-motivated Isak would have been next to useless for the flurry of important autumn games that follow the international break.

And the deal they have negotiated with Liverpool looks like a decent one. It is £125m but Liverpool are paying a very sizeable portion of that – more than £80m – up front. There is satisfaction that a high seven figure sum due to Isak in loyalty bonuses will not be paid and means the deal is worth £130m to Newcastle, £20m more than Liverpool offered a month ago.

“While we’ll all mourning the loss of Alexander’s ability, in reality that ability was withdrawn weeks ago,” one source told The i Paper. There was no enthusiasm internally, despite Howe’s brilliant diplomacy in press conferences, for the saga to extend into the autumn and winter, sucking energy and attention away from the team.

Given the Reds were effectively bidding against themselves, it is felt the £130m represents a good deal. Club sources have indicated it enables Newcastle to bring in “top level” recruits in January – and beyond. The impact the deal will have on their PSR situation is understood to be transformative.

The club are in contract talks with Tino Livramento – Manchester City had overtures rejected this summer – and The i Paper understands there is interest in discussing terms with Sandro Tonali too. Sven Botman is also in line for a new deal.

The manager’s nephew Andy Howe, thrust into the spotlight as de facto director of football, has done well after a sobering start in charge of incomings. Newcastle’s business actually looks decent on paper and there was huge satisfaction that the Magpies took Nick Woltemade – Germany’s big striker hope and a precocious talent – for just a shade over what they paid for Isak two years ago, despite vast inflation in the forward market.

The cherry on top was Yoane Wissa, an underrated striker whose scoring record was not far off the Swede last season. They have overpaid significantly – sports analytics firm SciSports rate him at £22m – but a chunk of that will be covered by the plan to sell Will Osula to Eintracht Frankfurt for nearly £30m.

It has been possible for Newcastle to haul the summer back from the brink but lessons must be learned. The Magpies pitched themselves as an elite club, going head to head with Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United for targets, but the knockbacks they got have been a shuddering reminder of how much work is still to be done.

There is a lot of good work going on behind the scenes on the academy, scouting and integration of data but they desperately need a more coherent strategy. Are they Brighton on steroids, a black and white Chelsea or a hybrid of a few recruitment models?

For the new executives coming in there is the chance to carve out a new identity, unchained by some of the PSR problems that have held them back. The i Paper has been told that PIF are pledging to reinvest every penny of the Isak money and the message continues to be that they will spend every pound they can on new players.

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Some criticism of PIF is merited. That there was a massive leadership vacuum at St James’ Park for such an important summer of recruitment is far from a good look. With Darren Eales signed off there was no chief executive at Newcastle as they wrestled with the toxic Isak situation – and that was compounded by Paul Mitchell’s resignation in May that left them without a director of football.

PIF do not move quickly – there are committees, governance structures and “processes” to go through before big decisions are taken – so there was never a chance of Mitchell being replaced quickly. Indeed it is understood the position is still some way off being filled.

And if the summer has told us one thing it is that they have an elite manager in Howe that they must support. A brilliant tactician and man manager, his conduct and demeanour in the Isak situation has been flawless. He is understood to be phlegmatic about the Isak situation and enthused by the prospect of working with two international strikers when Newcastle return against Wolves in a fortnight.

Given how badly things might have turned out, Newcastle have actually done pretty well this summer. But unless lessons are absorbed and PIF inject a bit of dynamism into their running of the club, their dream of being “number one” will never get close to being realised.

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