Eddie Howe keeps faith in Newcastle United to sign striker in event of Alexander Isak’s departure

LONDON – Newcastle United’s owners will not leave the English Premier League club without a recognised striker if the protracted transfer saga involving Alexander Isak ends in the Swede’s exit, manager Eddie Howe said ahead of a league meeting with Liverpool.

Isak was the subject of a £110 million (S$190.7 million) bid from Liverpool earlier in August, according to media reports, and in a social media post on Aug 19, the striker accused Newcastle of breaking promises.

Newcastle responded by saying there had been no commitment to sell the 25-year-old, who is under contract until 2028.

Magpies club legend Alan Shearer, the Premier League’s all-time record scorer, labelled the current situation an “absolute mess” as he accused Isak’s agent, Vlado Lemic, of failing his client.

The club have been linked with a number of strikers in the transfer window but none of the moves have materialised, and with Callum Wilson having also left, Isak’s departure could leave them with 22-year-old William Osula as their only striker.

“I don’t think the club will allow that situation to happen. We certainly can’t go through the season with no recognised striker at the football club,” Howe told reporters.

“And that’s no disrespect to Will Osula. I think he’s doing really well and he’s progressing really well, but he’s got limited experience in the Premier League, although I’m really happy with his career progression.

“But Alex at the moment would be the only striker we have with Premier League history of goals and appearances and starts, so we can’t leave ourselves in that position.”

Newcastle host champions Liverpool in a Premier League clash on Aug 25.

Liverpool, meanwhile, have an embarrassment of riches in the attacking department.

They have signed playmaker Florian Wirtz, striker Hugo Ekitike and attack-minded fullbacks Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong in the summer, but that seems to have unbalanced the side as they conceded twice in both the Community Shield against Crystal Palace and their Premier League opener against Bournemouth.

The Reds looked excellent at times and vulnerable at others in their 4-2 home win against Bournemouth, one that came despite giving back a two-goal lead via Antoine Semenyo’s second-half brace.

Similarly, they bossed the first half of the game against Palace, taking a 2-1 lead into the break before a disappointing second half preceded a penalty shoot-out loss.

Manager Arne Slot, however, feels the return of midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, who missed both those matches, could go some way to fixing that issue.

“At least if he is the same player as he was last season, that could help us a lot,” Slot said on Aug 22.

“If you just simply look at the second goal we conceded (against Bournemouth), they could just go from one side from the 18-yard box to the other side without being attacked, which was smart because Virgil (van Dijk) and Ibou (Ibrahima Konate) needed to go back because it was a four-versus-two situation.

“I think if you look back at last season and every single time he played, Ryan would have been in that position and for him not being there and us playing with very good players but very attack-minded players, that hurt us in that goal, for example. And that wasn’t the first time where we lacked a player in that position on a counter-attack for the other team.

“Normally, if he brings his normal level, it would definitely help us to have him back again.” REUTERS